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S A B R I N A 

The Class Goddess 
OF 

AMHERST COLLEGE 



A HISTORY 

Compiled by 

MAX SHOOP 

Guardian for Class of 1910 



Copyrighted 1910 
Max Shoop, Amherst, Mass. 



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6 



Pre^ of 

LORING-AXTELL COMPANY, 

Springfield, Mass. 



©GI.A265671J 



Co tU Cla0$ of 1910 

among whose loyal members I have found 

so many friends, 

this life of our Goddess is 




PREFACE 

iHE bronze statue of 
Sabrina, of which 
this book is a history, 
has played a promi- 
nent part in the inter- 
class affairs of Amherst College since 
the early eighties. Before the mem- 
ory of man begins to fail on 
the interesting details of the early 
history of this statue, it seemed best 
that an authentic history be pub- 
lished. It is fitting that all Sabrina 
men, at least, should be intimately 
acquainted with the story. 

The facts contained herein are 
as accurate and full as could be 
obtained by the compiler, who 
has endeavored to maintain, as 
nearly as his love for Sabrina would 
permit, the impartiality of the his- 
torian. This book is published in 
5 



the hope that what it lacks in 
Hterary worth will be made up in 
the minds of the readers by the 
unusual nature of the theme. 

In publishing this book the com- 
piler has been greatly assisted with 
facts and personal reminiscences by 
the following Amherst men,: Edwin 
Duffey, '90; E. B. Child, '90; 
John T. Stone, '91; R. B. Luding- 
ton, '91; H. C. Crocker, '91; 
James M. Breed, '93; Harlan F. 
Stone, '94 ; Benjamin Hyde, '94 ; 
H. T. Noyes, '94 ; Grosvenor 
Backus, '94; Charles J. Staples, '96; 
Samuel Furbish, '98 ; Ferdinand 
Blanchard, '98; E. E. Green, '00; 
Robert Cleeland,'02; J.B. Eastman, 
'04; Ralph Wheeler, '06; Fayette 
Read, '08. The writer is indebted 
to Prof. John F. Genung for his 
introduction and helpful criticism, 
and also to Burges Johnson, '99 

6 



for his appreciation of Sabrina, here 
pubHshed. 

The sketches were drawn by J. 
F. Swalley, MO. 

MAX SHOOP/10. 



INTRODUCTION 




)HE little book here 
offered to the reader 
opens a window into 
a phase of college 
life hitherto known 
only by floating rumors and detached 
bits of alumni reminiscence. In one 
way it seems almost a pity to let 
the grey light of common day into 
what has had so authentic a touch 
of the mysterious and romantic. In 
another way, however, so far from 
taking the glamour out of the Sabrina 
cult, it but drives the sentiment 
deeper into the imaginative college 
heart. The facts are before us 
indeed, like a news item, in the 
prosaic realism of print. But the 
facts are only the surface of the 
matter. For to those who read 
them penetratively they turn out to 
9 



be a chronicle not of irresponsible 
school-boy pranks, but of that pulsa- 
tion of fancy and adventure which 
is sure to claim its rights in a vigorous 
and healthy youth. Sabrina, for 
the college man, is not a mass of 
metal, stowed away in haymows 
and shipped from place to place 
to the profit of the express companies; 
not a mere occasion for audacious 
student larks. She is a divinity, 
fair and gracious, a gentle protectress 
who herself deigns to be protected; 
her throne a rallying-point for class 
loyalty and fellowship and enthusi- 
asm. As such she holds a unique 
place in college and in the memory 
of her devotees. 

Let us look a little through the 
window she opens and see what the 
view yields of the secret of Sabrina 
and of what she stands for in college 
life. 

10 



We will choose, to look through, 
the eyes of a man, a business man 
say, who is looking into college 
from the outside, and who himself 
has never been to college. His sons 
are there, getting an experience 
which has been denied him. From 
time to time come echoes of how 
they fare, such reports as reach him 
through the newspapers. What are 
his hopeful wards doing all this 
time? If his exacting business cares 
allow him an occasional thought 
of them, it surely must be not 
unlike the thought that came to 
Byron's gladiator, — " There are 
his young barbarians all at play." 
The newspapers do not report much 
more. The scores of football and 
baseball and tennis and track fill 
the page and make exciting news; 
he sees his boys* pictures in padded 
clothes or in thin drawers clearly 



not meant for the costume of the 
class-room. About the class-room 
itself, and the library, and the 
laboratory, he may search in vain 
for reports of achievement or prog- 
ress; such things do not make 
sensational items for the crowd. 
Even the sons themselves, home on 
their vacation, one suspects, are not 
eloquent about their college routine, 
or they pass it off with hints of the 
bluffs and tricks by which the 
routine is enlivened. What are they 
doing to become scholars, or get 
ready for the coming toil and 
moil of business? Clearly, if the 
outsider depends on the papers 
for his information, college is a 
holiday, a place for high jinks 
and play. 

But the world sees only what it 
has eyes to see. And so far as 
externalities go, the outside world 

12 



is right. College ts a place for 
play. That is in a sense its glory. 
But it is not a place where they con- 
tinue to be " his young barbarians 
all at play.** Somehow, they them- 
selves scarcely know how, they are 
passing out of the barbarian stratum 
into something that makes the play 
a finer, more civilized thing. For 
there is play and play. There is 
play with the keen sense of honor 
and culture in it, with disdain of 
what belongs to the mucker and the 
cad. There is such a thing as 
play in work, such ease and mastery 
of its processes as takes the moil and 
drudgery out of it; an ideal which 
the true scholar finds, but of which 
we do not here speak. The fellows 
are learning even to make play of 
baseball, and thus interpose a make- 
weight against the inveterate Ameri- 
can tendency to make it a hustling 

13 



business and profession. They are 
learning, in short, in the whole atmos- 
phere of their work and their games, 
that the trail of the counting-room 
must not impose its hardening, sear- 
ing impress on the real inwardness 
of life; their college fellowship fur- 
nishes a subtle refining element 
which releases them from its nar- 
rowness and tyranny. 

Just here is where the outsider's 
realizing sense of the college spirit 
wholly fails. He has not the com- 
bination to unlock its secret. Kip- 
ling describes a multi-millionaire's 
feeling of this limitation in the char- 
acter of Cheyne, in " Captains 
Courageous." Cheyne has untold 
power to bend circumstances to his 
hard will and manipulate men; but 
he is urging his son to go to college 
because, as he says, " I can't com- 
pete with the man who has been 

14 



taughil^^ He feels himself a hope- 
less outsider. " Don't 1 know it? 
Don't I know the look on men's 
faces when they think me a — a 
' mucker,' as they call it out here? 
I can break them to little pieces — 
yes — but I can't get back at 'em 
to hurt 'em where they live. I don't 
say they're 'way, 'way up, but I feel 
I'm 'way, 'way, 'way off, some- 
how." He attributes his lack to 
what he calls " the plain, common, 
sit - down - with - your -chin-on-your- 
elbows book-learning." Well, that 
helps, as every son of old Amherst 
knows. But that, as Kipling would 
say, is another story. There is a 
subtle element beyond learning, as 
one can realize by observing the 
limitations of the college "grind." 

To connect the secret with 
Sabrina would seem to men like 
Cheyne like evaporating all that is 

15 



substantial in college to a fra- 
grance. Nor indeed would I make 
any extravagant claim for her. All 
I would claim for this Sabrina 
custom is that here is revealed a 
subtle and elusive but very real ele- 
ment of college life, something be- 
yond the inane prank and beyond 
the exactions of sport. We get, 
in short, a glimpse into the col- 
lege man's centre of active senti- 
ment, where his youthful fancy, his 
play of imagination, his sense of 
loyalty and ideal, have spontaneous 
outlet. It is like the soldier's loyalty 
for his flag. The Sabrina man, 
with his privileged class, is in the 
conscious service of a protecting and 
propitious divinity. He will do 
anything for her; he will not limit 
the good she stands for to him. 
Here the Sabrina man will doubt- 
less be the first to exclaim, as chil- 

16 



dren say of their prodigious fairy- 
tales, " Oh, nonsense; it isn't so; 
we only just say so.*' But to say 
so, and to act accordingly, is 
something. It is evidence that in 
this crowded college world the 
vein of fancy, of poetry if you 
please, even though only wreak- 
ing itself on a confessed make- 
believe, is not extinct or running 
low. Task-work in books and lab- 
oratory has not deadened it; dress 
suits have not conventionalized it; 
the rough activities of sport and 
athletics have not swamped it in 
barbarian play. The freedom of 
audacious make-believe still asserts 
its rights. Even when boys have 
become husky young men, old 
enough to shave, the grey realism 
of life has not completed its hard 
invasion, and by the grace of the 
college ideal it never will. 



17 



As long as this sentiment remains 
vital — and this holds for alumni 
as for undergraduates — the stolid 
world cannot really, as Cheyne puts 
it, " hurt 'em where they live." The 
poetic vein is there, not exhausted 
by Sabrina, nor monopolized by the 
even-numbered classes. Stevenson 
shall speak for it here. He, as 
my readers are aware, has written 
a capital Sabrina paper, in his 
essay on " The Lantern Bearers." 
Only his Sabrina was a carefully 
concealed bull's-eye lantern which 
on certain secret occasions the boys 
carried at their belt. " The essence 
of the bliss was to walk by yourself 
in the black night; the slide shut, 
the top-coat buttoned; not a ray 
escaping, whether to conduct your 
footsteps or to make your glory 
public: a mere pillar of darkness in 
the dark; and all the while, deep 

18 



down in the privacy of your fool's 
heart, to know you had a bull's- 
eye at your belt, and to exult and 
sing over the knowledge." Just as 
*' none could recognize a lantern- 
bearer, unless (like the pole-cat) 
by the smell," so perhaps no out- 
sider can recognize the Sabrina 
man except by his class number. 
But there he is, cherishing a senti- 
ment which is its own justification, 
and which through all the coming 
years of alumni-hood, let us hope, 
will keep the glamour of college 
days alive. "It is said that a poet 
has died young in the breast of the 
most stolid. It may be contended 
rather that this (somewhat minor) 
bard in almost every case survives, 
and is the spice of life to his posses- 
sor. Justice is not done to the 
versatility and the unplumbed child- 
ishness of man's imagination. His 
19 



life from without may seem but a 
rude mound of mud; there will be 
some golden chamber at the heart 
of it, in which he dwells delighted; 
and for as dark as his pathway 
seems to the observer, he will have 
some kind of a bull's-eye at his 
beh." 

The little book before us lets in 
the light, not rudely nor unsym- 
pathetically, on our Amherst lantern- 
bearers. Here we are made aware 
of what Duffey and Ingalls with 
their mystic Sabrina vision, (delicious 
thought!) and Ben Hyde and Char- 
ley Staples, with their banquet- 
ing and singing classmates, have 
had and still have buttoned up 
under their top-coats. It is a de- 
lightful thing to discover. The heart 
of the old professor who writes 
these words, who has lived through 
the -whole Sabrina period, warms 

20 



to the poet who has not died young 
within them. The dig or the dawd- 
ler must be left to look out for 
himself; he has chosen his own 
inner resources; but since Sabrina 
has had these men in her keeping, 
and they her in theirs, they are live 
men; we need have no fear for them. 
And as often as they live over again 
their Sabrina experience, and cherish 
its enriching effects, they will verify, 
in English if not in Latin, what 
they dimly felt at the time of it, 

OLIM MEMINISSE JUVABIT. 

So we give the little book our 
hearty good-speed. 

JOHN F. GENUNG. 



21 



AN APPRECIATION 

By a Non-Sabrina Man. 
CSabrina is, at the present date of 
writing, Goddess of Amherst's even- 
numbered classes. Her countenance 
sheds a certain effulgence over this 
portion of the graduate and under- 
graduate body, with perhaps just 
such a mentally benumbing influence 
as was wielded by Circe's baleful 
beauty. As this history is written 
by one of Sabrina's subjects, it is 
perhaps advisable to have it pref- 
aced by the graduate of an odd 
year, who, undazzled, unprejudiced, 
with an eye single to the truth, may 
put the reader on his guard. 

Imagine a female (Goddess if 
you will, for residence on Olympus 
entided no certificate of character) 
of uncertain age, brazen beyond 
denial, and bearing the scars of 
ancient brawls. ReaHze that she 



23 



has travelled the breadth of the 
land, wining and dining annually 
only at stag occasions; evading the 
police and detectives, and all this 
in a costume that were better not 
described, — if indeed it merits the 
name. 

These facts it seems well to place 
before the reader, as a matter of 
fairness. On the other hand, the 
fact that a heroine is no lady does 
not lessen the popular interest in 
her memoirs, as a study of current 
literature proves. And it may be 
said in Sabrina's behalf that she 
has always been true to Amherst; 
and surely constancy to so worthy 
an object for such a term of years 
is a mighty virtue. For that reason, 
if for no other, the voices of odd- 
and even-numbered classes some- 
times blend, singing in mighty chorus 
the stirring paean in her praise. 

BURGES Johnson. '99. 

24 



S A B R I N A 

There is a gentle nymph not far from hence, 
That with moist curb, sways the smooth Severn 

stream ; 
Sabrina is her name, a virgin fair. 

— Comas. 




jVERY people has 
had its guardian 
deity, for it is man's 
nature to worship. 
The ancient Greeks 
looked to Athena or Aphrodite for 
protection and inspiration. These 
dwellers upon Olympus have come 
and gone and their day in the 
affections of men passed long, long 
ago. But man's affections remain, 
and seek some object of worship. 
Myriads of deities have from time 
to time blessed men with their 
presence. It has been reserved to 
certain chosen men of Amherst 



25 



College, in Massachusetts, to cherish 
still as their patron Goddess, and 
the guardian of their college life, 
the beautiful and chaste Sabrina, 
the Athena of the Saxon race. 

The gods of the Greeks belonged 
to all alike. Sabrina, though for- 
merly Goddess of the Britons, 
wearied with watching the ordinary 
run of men, has turned all her pro- 
tection and devotion to the chosen 
few of the little college on the hill 
at Amherst. She signifies every- 
thing to her followers, and they never 
grow tired of singing her praises 
and glorious name, especially to 
those unfortunate ones who have 
only been allowed to gaze at her 
from afar and have tried hard to 
conceal the envy which rises strong 
within them because they too may 
not know the calm and peace of her 
protecting care. 

26 



Whenever Sabrina men stand in 
her majestic presence, there rushes 
over them as a mighty flood the 
memory of how her influence has 
enriched their college Hfe; and once 
more they recall the old but fascinat- 
ing story of all her thrilling ex- 
periences since the time she was 
born long, long ago in the darkness 
of a prison to a life of captivity, 
before she became the River God- 
dess of the Britons. 

It was about three thousand years 
ago that Hymyr, the Hun, descended 
with his savage violence, and laid 
waste the beautiful country along 
the banks of the river Albis in 
Germany. As part of his booty, 
Hymyr carried off the beautiful 
daughter of the German king to 
be his slave. The wild Hun con- 
27 



tinued his destruction along the 
coast of Frigia until he reached the 
rich island of Albion, newly named 
Briton from its king Brutus. He 
sailed up the coast to the province 
called Albany, and landing there 
with his fierce sea-robbers easily 
defeated Albanactus, the King, and 
drove him from his realm. Hymyr 
and his men then revelled in the 
halls of Albanactus in heedless 
security. It was a joyous place, 
this land of the Britons, and the 
Huns had no thought of care for 
the morrow. 

Meanwhile the defeated Alba- 
nactus had secured the aid of his 
brother, King Locrinus of Loegria. 
The two brothers and their armies 
fell upon the Huns in the midst of 
their revels, and, killing Hymyr, 
took his followers captive. Then 
all the treasure from Hymyr's ships 

28 



was laid before the two kings. 
There were costly garments, precious 
vessels, bronze, gold, and armour, — 
spoils of many palaces. And as 
the two brothers admired, lo, one 
brought the fair captive, Princess 
Esyllt, daughter of the German 
King. " When the eyes of Locrinus 
lighted on her, albeit her look was 
bent on the ground, and her long 
hair almost hid her features, love 
suddenly flooded his soul, and he 
stood like one smitten by the power- 
ful wand of a magician." To his 
brother Albanactus, he gladly gave 
all the gold and riches, satisfied to 
have but Esyllt for his own. He 
wooed her for his wife, and took 
her back with him to his kingdom. 
It seems, however, that this Locrinus 
had previously promised Corineus, 
the giant king of the Welch, to 
take to wife his daughter Guendolen. 
29 



But Locrinus did not love this 
daughter of the Welch king. Never- 
theless, when Corineus heard of 
Locrinus' marriage to Esyllt, he 
was exceeding wroth and prepared 
to march against Locrinus, and 
punish him for the insult he had 
offered him and his daughter. 

King Locrinus, hearing of his 
coming, and boding ill of the issue, 
privily hid his wife Esyllt in a 
shepherd's hut, and caused a rumor 
to be spread throughout his kingdom 
that the Queen had suddenly died. 
These tidings met Corineus on the 
way, and somewhat slaked his 
fury. He proceeded, however, and 
forced Locrinus, on pain of death, 
to fulfill his pledge and marry his 
daughter. The king, with a heavy 
heart, assented and formed an un- 
happy marriage with the haughty 
Guendolen. 

30 



The Queen Esyllt meanwhile tar- 
ried sadly in the shepherd's hut, 
wearying for the coming of her lord. 
She bore the time patiendy, yet 
longed for his return. She had 
heard the shepherd tell of the 
terrible happenings at the palace, and 
she lay awake the nights, weep- 
ing and praying the gods to pro- 
tect her lord and restore him to 
her in the fullness of his love. 

Fearing the jealous eye of Guen- 
dolen, Locrinus fitted up a secret 
chamber which had been curiously 
contrived years before by his father 
Brutus, for the deposit of treasure. 
Thither one night he brought his 
beautiful Esyllt. She had not been 
many days in this dark chamber 
when a daughter was born to her. 
The little Sabrina, as the Queen 
Esyllt named her, pined not for 
what she knew not of. The pale 

31 



light of the lamp which biirnt night 
and day in the dark chamber 
could not ripen the color in her 
cheeks or waken the laughter on 
her lips, as the goodly sun does. 
She became a child of captivity, 
yet not unhappy even in her darkened 
life. For seven long years she 
dwelt in this secret chamber. Only 
through the words of her guarding 
mother did she learn aught of the 
outer world. Sabrina grew most 
beautiful, with a beauty of sur- 
passing sweetness, unknown in sun- 
kissed mortals. 

At the end of seven years the 
mighty king Corineus died, and 
straightway Locrinus put away the 
haughty Guendolen, with whom 
life had become unbearable, and 
he took back to him on his throne 
the beautiful Queen Esyllt for whom 
he had waited so long. Again 

joy filled the halls the palace. 

32 



The beauty of the Kttle Sabrina 
won praise from all the court; but 
the glory of the upper world was 
well nigh too much for the child. 
She hid herself from the light and 
sounds of the palace and the at- 
tention of the courtiers. She lan- 
guished for the still chamber which 
had so long been her home. Her 
nature craved the sunless life, — 
the life of captivity. She was most 
gentle of speech, and a sweet smile 
played continually over her face, 
like moonlight on the waters. 

When Sabrina had grown to 
woman's estate, tidings came that 
the haughty Guendolen had re- 
turned to her father's kingdom, 
and now with a large army was 
marching eastward, vowing to slay 
Locrinus, and take Esyllt and Sa- 
brina captive. The King hurriedly 
marshalled his army, and taking 

33 



Esyllt and the Princess with him, 
marched boldly to meet the army 
of Guendolen on his frontier. A 
fierce battle ensued, in which Locrin- 
us was struck down by an arrow, 
and in the subsequent rout of his 
army Sabrina and her mother were 
captured. The haughty daughter 
of Corineus gloried in her victory, 
heaping insults on the dead king 
and reviling the two women who 
stood trembling before her. As they 
answered not her charges, Guen- 
dolen ordered them without more 
ado to be flung into the river that 
was flowing hard by. As six fierce 
warriors sprang forward to seize 
them, Sabrina gazed pleadingly into 
the face of her mother, who there- 
upon lifting her head looked straight 
into the eyes of her captor, this 
daughter of Corineus, and spake 
thus, — " Princess, if I have wronged 

34 



thee, the gods have richly avenged 
thee, seeing that I did it unwilHngly, 
yea, even unwittingly. The fate 
thou adjudgest to me and to this 
child is indeed a merciful one; 
I seek not to change it — it is far, 
far better to fall thus into the hands 
of the gods; but add to it yet this 
boon, — let not the hands of thy 
warriors come upon the maiden, 
seeing that she is a Princess and 
a daughter of the noble Locrinus. 
Behold, we go whither thou bidst 
us, and may the merciful gods 
receive us!" 

Thus speaking she walked down 
the green meadow to the amber 
stream, Sabrina walking lightly by 
her side. And as they came to 
the brink and the murmuring waters 
kissed their feet, the two women 
turned their faces to the setting 
sun which was touching the purple 
35 



hills with radiant splendor. Sabrina 
silently saluted it — before long she 
would be there. As in a dream 
she saw herself a queen there 
in the land of the setting sun, and 
at her feet many followers, of a 
different race than these whom 
she was now leaving forever. Esyllt 
bowed her head joyfully, for she 
could see Locrinus beckoning, and 
a vision of future happiness blotted 
out the terror of the moment. After 
mother and child had silently em- 
braced each other, hand in hand 
they bravely plunged into the cold 
bosom of the stream, — sank, — and no 
one saw them more. But the name 
of the beautiful princess clung ever 
to the stream, and men as they 
wander by the glassy Severn in 
Old England dream, even yet, of 
the gentle Sabrina, who became 
a Goddess of the river and of the 

Britons. 

36 



Sabrina remained for a time in 
those halls of the River Gods, 
harkening ever to the cry of the 
innocent, and lending her help to 
the honest and virtuous. But one 
thing the Britons did not know, 
that in the course of time, tiring 
of the society of the other Gods 
of the river, Sabrina roamed to 
the land of the setting sun, the land 
toward which she had looked so 
longingly as she stepped into the 
cold waters of the Severn. Mean- 
while — for long ages had elapsed — 
this land had become America, 
and was peopled with men who 
had need of her gracious presence. 
And thus it happened that among 
these purple hills of New England 
she appeared to a few men of 
Amherst College, and in a vision 
spake to them, " I am the Goddess 
Sabrina, the Goddess of Truth and 

37 



Loyalty. The old statue which 
once graced your Campus and now 
lies hidden in an old barn, I have 
chosen for my abode. Henceforth, 
that statue shall be more than a mere 
bronze form. I shall breathe into 
it my spirit, and if you will but 
cherish the statue and do it honor, 
I shall be your Goddess forever.'* 
With those words Sabrina vanished, 
the dream was dispelled, and when 
morning came the men were not 
unmindful of the vision. 



38 



CIt was in the year 1857 that 
Governor Joel Hayden of Massa- 
chusetts gave a sum of money to 
Amherst College for the erection 
of a bronze statue of the Goddess 
Sabrina. The original from which 
this copy was made is at Shrewsbury, 
England. The statue presented to 
the college was made in 1857. 
Its weight is three hundred and 
fifty pounds; it is four and a half 
feet high. The college valued the 
gift highly, and placed it in the 
center of a flower-bed on the Cam- 
pus, at the foot of the terrace, 
midway between North College 
Dormitory and the Octagon. There 
it remained for a number of years 
in peaceful solitude. The sum- 
mers came and went, but they were 
all the same to Sabrina. Storm 
and sunshine passed over her with 
like effect. Her garment of driven 
39 



snow suited her as beautifully as 
did the pearly raindrops of summer. 
She continued to sit amidst the 
flowers of the garden, always smil- 
ing upon the students as they passed 
to their college duties. 

The statue rested upon a large 
brownstone base, about two feet 
high, four and a half feet long, 
and three wide. On the front of 
this stone the students read every 
morning on their way to Chapel, 
the words. 



PRESENTED 

BY 
JOEL HAYDEN 

OF 
HAYDENVILLE. 



This block now stands in the 
rear of the new Observatory, on 
Snell Street. 

After several years, the students 
began to take more notice of Sabrina. 
About 1860, a certain energetic 

40 



student stole some clothing from 
a line in the rear of the girls' school 
then conducted in Amherst and 
proceeded, one morning, to dress 
Sabrina in this apparel. Dr. Hitch- 
cock saw and chased the student, 
who in jumping a fence caught his 
coat on a picket and hung there 
until Dr. Hitchcock apprehended 
him. The youth was severely rep- 
rimanded by a committee of the 
Faculty, and the morning after a 
huge gash was found in Sabrina's 
cheek where the malignant student 
had avenged himself with the aid 
of an axe. Sabrina felt deeply 
this insult — but with some skillful 
hammering the wound was healed. 
Later the class of '70, after the 
Faculty had expelled one of their 
classmates, gave her a shining coat 
of whitewash. Others took pity 
on her nudity and, at different 
41 



times, painted articles oi clothing, 
bright red shawls or blue stock- 
ings, and at times she was adorned 
with a hat or a cloak. Between 
1876 and 1880, she changed color 
capriciously from black to white 
and white to black, running the 
gamut of the rainbow. When the 
tar walks were being laid in the 
town, she was rudely taken from 
her stone pedestal and plunged 
headfirst into the soft tar. Soon 
after, however, she reappeared, 
smiling brightly as ever from the 
center of the flower garden. 

One year the class of *77 carried 
her off for almost a week. She 
was returned, however, in good 
condition. " And then President 
Stearns opened the vials of his 
sarcasm on poor '77, wishing them 
to understand that they had done 
nothing at all original, for Sabrina 

42 



had been courted many times before, 
and that about once every year.** 
The mystic ceremonies of the modern 
cuh of Sabrina were to be developed 
later. In this early period, the 
stunts were performed by individuals 
rather than classes. On one occa- 
sion " the good people of Amherst 
were rudely called to their windows 
by a most unusual racket to see 
the major part of the college in an 
unofficial parade, cheering vocifer- 
ously and carrying an improvised 
platform on which Sabrina was 
seated, draped in a beautiful coat 
of whitewash, still hardly dry.'* 
The procession toured the village 
common and finally returned Sabrina 
to her home among the flowers. 

One morning, in 1 878, she ap- 
peared on top of the Octagon, 
calmly holding a rag baby labeled 
"'81." This was the first time 

43 



in the history of the statue when 
it figured to any great extent as a 
class venture. This escapade of 
hers, in which she had the kind 
assistance of the class of '80, was 
only the beginning of a number 
of such performances on her part. 
'82 planned an elaborate Class 
Supper and having stolen Sabrina 
at night, toasted her as the guest 
of honor at the banquet. '83 was 
very rough and ungentle, and after 
a decisive victory over Williams 
in baseball, threw her into the 
college well. The college authori- 
ties had considerable difficulty in 
securing an efficient rescue party, 
and Sabrina dwelt in the well 
for several days. She was finally 
rescued, however, apparently none 
the worse for the cold plunge. 



\k 



H4I % 




Such episodes occurred every year 
or so after some big victory. Sa- 
brina, how^ever, never seemed to 
mind, though her exterior began 
to look just a trifle battered. 

The college authorities, of course, 
tried to put an end to this fun, 
but with little success. Sabrina 
stood there patiently year after year, 
except for intermittent reigns of 
terror. One day a number of stu- 
dents dragged the statue to the top 
of Chapel Tower. Several times 
she was found greeting a class 
in the morning, from the top of 
some professor's desk. From time 
to time she was adorned with every 
shade of war paint. Such indig- 
nities grew in number every year, 
and the bronze statue was so woe- 
fully treated . after every victory 
that the authorities of the college 
at last decided to be rid of her, 

45 



and so put an end to all such 
pranks. Consequently, in 1884, 
the President drew " Professor 
Charlie," the janitor of the college, 
aside, and told him to take the 
statue from the Campus and break 
it up. 

Now Professor Charlie, as he 
was called, was a good old darky 
who was employed about the col- 
lege grounds to take care of things 
in general, and to see that the 
pranks the students played were 
not too destructive. He was about 
the college from 1850 to 1890. 
He was always absolutely faithful 
to his duties and never told tales 
on either the students or the faculty. 
But whenever the boys tried to pull 
off a trick, Professor Charlie was 
always around early in the morn- 
ing to see that the scene of action 
was put to rights before any one 

46 




o 

vO 
00 



en 

D 

Dm 
< 

u 

Q 
Z 

< 

o 

-J 

o 
u 

H 
en 

X 
< 



was about. It was the soft answer 
that turned away wrath, for the 
students could not be angry with 
him — he was only doing his duty. 
One night the students stole the 
clapper out of the Chapel bell. 
Somehow, Professor Charlie found 
it out before morning, and was up 
in the tower bright and early with 
a new clapper. And when the bell 
rang the same as usual, the students 
could not understand how it hap- 
pened. Again this stunt was at- 
tempted, but with the same result. 
Finally, Professor Charlie told the 
boys that they might as well quit 
for he had enough clappers to 
provide the Chapel bell for a year. 
At another time some students had 
stolen all the prayer-books from 
the Chapel the evening before, 
so that prayers might not be held 
the next morning. Professor Char- 

47 



lie discovered it about a half 
hour before chapel. He quietly 
went over to the house of President 
Seelye and slipped a note under 
his door, saying that the President 
had better bring a small prayer- 
book v^ith him that morning. The 
President took the hint, and so 
prayers were conducted as usual, 
and the students never knew why 
their plot had been unsuccessful. 

Well, it was this good-souled 
old darky, whom President Seelye 
told to smash the statue. Pro- 
fessor Charlie took pity, however, 
because Sabrina was " such a beau- 
tiful thing,'* and instead of breaking 
it up, he hid it under a pile of hay 
in his old barn on Snell Street, 
away below Blake Field. There 
it remained undisturbed for two 
years. 

It was during mid-winter of the 

48 



„,.»»i.i n . ' tm ni i. MWih «. , iii t ■■ i\ w w »- rfW>« J»'f-'**.i... »W . M . W« -M L ^iwi!t " ig* (" ""''^^ ^. .^.ii ^ . ■yw „|> i....... , i» ^ 

iM...ir * .....r<i I M »iii "- ' " l' - l * *- ^H" ' " ' ' -- < 'i' "f' ^*''''V" '" '' !■■ " ■' ' <A"1j' '' J ^ ^ j^HW .i t.. 

-^■l,.l,.l■■^»^■.■ ^^ il■|^ ii > <iiiwii» m ii. mn t n ... . w ^ i'w» ' « 'i L al mB -^.^^^ ^ l■^ ^* l M l<| ^ ll■ » lll iib w i vXi^ * " ' ^ ' ^ '" ^ •"^ y^ 




"PROF." CHARLIE AND THE COLLEGE WELL 



year 1886 that the "Goddess" 
Sabrina wandered into the snow- 
covered hills of New England, 
and a little later appeared in a 
dream to two men of the class of '90, 
Duffey and Ingalls, and it is said 
by those who know that "these two 
men were just the right ones to be 
favored with such a supernatural 
manifestation." For they immedi- 
ately set out to find her, and from 
that time on the oft-mutilated statue 
was deified, and ever since has 
been a living Goddess, and for 
seventeen years the Goddess of the 
Even Classes. 




Duffey and Ingalls, the men '90 
to whom Sabrina appeared in a (1886-1890) 
dream, were not " disobedient unto 
the vision." They were living in 

49 



their Freshmen year at Guernsey's, 
on the road to old Blake Field. 
They learned from these people 
the previous history of Sabrina 
and were told that because of the 
frequent abuse of the statue the 
college had caused it to be removed, 
and that rumor held that Professor 
Charlie still had it in his house 
down the road. Duffey and Ingalls 
told the news to Raymond '90 — 
and the three planned a raid on 
Prof. Charlie's house. As it hap- 
pened, E. B. Child, also of the 
class of '90, learned the same story 
at about the same time from some 
town-folk who hung about the black- 
smith's shop in town, and according 
to them suspicion pointed strongly 
to Professor Charlie as the man 
who had the statue, so Child, 
Duffey, Raymond and Ingalls 
planned a raid. 

50 



The stealing occurred Sunday 
night, June 19, 1887, which was 
'90's Freshman year. It was at the 
time that the Central Massachusetts 
Railroadfrom Amherst to Northamp- 
ton was in process of construction. 
Near Prof. Charlie's house there 
was a camp of Italian workmen. 
A couple of the '90 men went down 
comparatively early to look over 
the ground. As they neared the 
house, Prof. Charlie appeared on 
the scene. There was consternation 
for a minute till one of the boys 
conceived the idea of asking Charlie 
to direct them to the Italian camp. 
This excuse passed as an explana- 
tion for the presence of the boys 
in that part of town at that hour. 
At any rate it allayed Charlie's 
suspicions, if he had any, and he 
went on his way to the village to 
prayer meeting. 
51 



After dark, Duffey, Durgin, Ingalls, 
Child and Raymond, gathered at 
CharHe's house, and no one being 
at home, they searched the house. 
It was first assumed that the barn 
could not be the hiding place of 
Sabrina, since rumor had it that 
the old darky had secluded her 
safely in the house. They got into 
the house through the cellar and 
searched the entire place, to no 
avail of course. They then tried 
the barn. Unfastening the doors, 
one of the men struck a match. At 
the first glimmer of light Ingalls 
noticed a piece of white cloth which 
appeared to have been thrown over 
an image of some kind. They 
quickly shifted the pieces of harness 
which hung near, pulled off the 
cloth, and three or four grasped the 
statue, and carried it as quietly 
and quickly as possible from the 

52 



barn. Avoiding the house they 
started off through the fields and 
got into freshly plowed ground. 
They were soon winded, especially 
the man who was carrying the head 
end all alone, he " will never forget 
that as long as he lives." The 
statue weighs at least 300 pounds. 
Ingalls hurried off to get Guernsey's 
wheelbarrow, and after that the 
going was much easier. With Sa- 
brina in the wheelbarrow, they 
quickly took her to Guernsey's house, 
where they left her in the cellar 
over night. 

That night, or rather the early 
morning of June 20th, a big celebra- 
tion had been planned. '90 had 
nailed its class pennant to the flag 
pole on Chapel Tower, and had 
effectually barricaded the stairway. 
Funds had been collected for an 
elaborate re-introduction of Sabrina 

53 



to the college at that time. *89, 
however, discovered the plans too 
soon, and the affair dissolved itself 
into a free-for-all fight for the 
possession of Chapel Tower and 
the flag. It was a fierce contest, and 
the stairway leading to the top was 
destroyed. Harrison had his leg 
broken in jumping from a window, 
subsequent to the report that the 
Faculty were coming. The pos- 
sibility of a surprise appearance of 
Sabrina was eliminated. Conse- 
quently, early that morning, the 
statue was taken to the old attic in 
Guernsey's house, and there it re- 
mained until Commencement time 
of their Sophomore year, 1 8SS. 

Meanwhile the class of '90 had 
formed the intention of having Sa- 
brina at their class banquet in 
New London, and to Kimball of 
that class was assigned a toast 

54 



on Sabrina. "Charles Wells, '91, 
heard through the register of his 
room several Sophomores talking 
in a study below, and he managed 
to gather from the hushed voices 
that they were going to take some- 
thing, then in the attic of Guern- 
sey's house, to their class banquet. 
Wells waited long enough to hear 
some of their final arrangements, 
and then he hurried off to tell two 
other members of '91, Allen and 
Hammond, and together they 
planned a capture. '90 as a class 
had already taken the train for the 
dinner, leaving the care of Sabrina 
in the hands of only four men. 
On the appointed day about ten 
men of the class of '91 gathered 
in Wells' room on Woodside Avenue. 
Among these were Morris, Hamilton, 
Crosier, Knight, Woodruff, Luding- 
ton, Hammond, and Crocker. Old 

55 



Guernsey with two husky Sophs 
on the seat soon appeared, driving 
a wagon containing the bulky form 
of Sabrina wrapped in a gunny sack. 
In front of Wells' house, Kimball 
of '90 and another man of that 
class joined the expressman. The 
'91 men followed under cover of 
the trees. At the road leading from 
Woodside Avenue up to Chapel, 
the Sophs left the team for some 
unknown reason and cut across 
the hill to the Central Vermont 
Station, thus leaving the statue un- 
protected." This was a signal for 
the '91 men. As soon as the Sophs 
were around the corner they sprang 
out from hiding. Three of them 
seized Guernsey and held the horse, 
while others moved Sabrina into 
a buggy which Crozier and Morris 
had found up by " Tip's " Lab, and 
had brought down the hill in the 

56 



front of Chapel just in the nick 
of time, as old Guernsey was 
being waylaid. Wells and Allen 
were soon on the Hamp Road with 
this ' borrowed team ' at a gallop, 
and the plan of the class of '90 to 
take Sabrina to their class dinner 
and resurrect her glorified form in 
special festivities came to naught. 
Some of the fellows wandered down 
to the Central Vermont Station, and 
were there when old Guernsey came 
jogging along with his empty wagon. 
Dunham, Fahy, and some other 
fellows were standing there, and 
their consternation when they saw 
the empty wagon is better imagined 
than described. 

" Where is it?" they angrily de- 
manded of the old man. 

" They got it," he meekly replied. 

" Who got it?" 

" I guess they was Freshmen." 

57 



The rest of the conversation is 
better imagined than printed. It 
has never been reported what was 
said in Kimball's toast to Sabrina 
that night at New London — but 
'91 never cared. 

"Wells and Allen, '91, mean- 
while were fast approaching the 
Connecticut with their fair burden. 
By the time they reached the river 
the horse was well-nigh exhausted 
and, fearing pursuit, they drove 
up stream a little way and dumped 
Sabrina into the river. Then they 
drove back to Amherst only to be 
met half-way by the irate owner 
of the rig, who threatened suit for 
horse-stealing, damages for injury 
done to the horse, and a whole 
lot of other disagreeable things. 
It is said that he was paid a nominal 
sum for the unbargained rent of his 
horse and buggy. At any rate no 

suit was brought." 

58 



Sabrina slept that summer under 
the cool waters of the Connecticut, 
sunken well out of sight. " In the 
fall, when the excitement had qui- 
eted down, Wells fished her out 
of the Connecticut and took her 
to his home in Hatfield, where she 
was boarded up in a room without 
any doors, there to remain until 
the Sophomore banquet of the class 
of '91, at New London, Conn. 
The following is a poem descriptive 
of the preceding episode which 
was published in the '91 Oho. 
It is entitled " Sabrina." 

The summer term was closing fast, 
When through old Amherst village passed 
The Class of Ninety, on the road 
To the depot with their precious load, 
Sabrina. 

For now, indeed, 'twas their intent 

To add to joy and merriment 

By taking, their festive board to grace, 

The maiden with the pretty face, 

Sabrina. 
59 



This fact has oft come to our ken, 
The best laid plans of mice and men 
Do fail. And this was just the case 
With Ninety and that form of grace, 
Sabrina. 

For to the Class of Ninety-One 
The^knowledge of their plan had come, 
And each man solemnly declared 
" This toast to-night shall not be heard, 
Sabrina." 

So when Old Guernsey, in his cart, 
For the New London Northern made a start 
With that fair Goddess snug within, 
At once the Freshmen howled like sin, 
" Sabrina." 

" Deter me not," the old man said. 
In mortal terror for his head, 
" The power of Ninety is great and wide," 
But loud a clarion voice replied, 
" Sabrina." 

And e'en before the dear old man 
Had really grasped their wicked plan. 
He heard mid sounds of trampling feet 
A voice which cried far up the street, 
" Sabrina." 

60 



They drove the maid o'er hill and dale 
Until they reached a gloomy vale, 
And then without a hymn or prayer, 
In silence grim, they buried there, 
Sabrina. 

The Sophomores they cussed and swore 
Of oaths some ninety gross or more; 
But to their supper had to go 
Without the girl they'd longed for so, 
Sabrina. 

And if to-day you wish to cloy 
Some dainty little Ninety boy, 
It always works for reasons clear. 
To whisper softly in his ear, 
'* Sabrina!" 




61 



*9l CIn June, 1889, the class of '91 
(1887-1889) ]^ad its Sophomore banquet at Watch 
Hill, R. I. Sabrina was in at- 
tendance and was cheered and 
honored as never before. The class 
chartered a tug and after a trip 
about the Sound followed the Yale- 
Harvard boat race with Sabrina 
still seated proudly in a place of 
honor in the bow. The day was 
fair and the charming Goddess 
caused quite a sensation among the 
followers of the race. Many were the 
questions asked among the crowd, — 
and strange to say none knew who 
the fair figure was. H. C. Crocker 
was acting as guardian. That even- 
ing she was taken by train to 
Westerly, R. I., and then to Watch 
Hill by wagon. She appeared dur- 
ing the banquet about three o'clock 
in the morning, carried by four men 
who walked around the tables with 

62 



Sabrina on their shoulders, while 
the '91 men sang, 

Sabrina, Sabrina, we drink to thee, 
And every son of '9 1 will in the chorus be. 

Sabrina, according to the '91 men, 
seemed to like their company much 
better than that of the class of '90. 
This is not printed as authentic, 
however. 

'90 and '92 made many attempts '93 
to recapture Sabrina, but to no (1899-1891) 
avail. The '91 men proved ardent 
and capable guardians and, " in 
the fall of 1889 she was handed 
to the then Freshman class of '93, 
who kept her during the fall and 
winter in the same barn in Hatfield, 
at the home of Wells, '91. In 
February of 1890, Sabrina was 
taken by wagon at midnight from 
Hatfield to Northampton, and from 
there shipped to Springfield, where 
63 



she was present at the '93 Freshman 
class supper. During this year she 
was under the direct charge of 
Schauffler, then president of the 
class, who kept her under a haymow 
in a barn at Claremont, New 
Hampshire. Later she was given 
into the charge of the Class Execu- 
tive Committee." 

Plans were then made by '93 
for a Sophomore banquet in Boston, 
in June, 1891. "For about a 
year prior to this time, Sabrina 
had been kept in a deposit ware- 
house in Springfield, Mass. The 
duty of taking Sabrina from Spring- 
field to the class dinner in Boston 
was entrusted to a committee. By 
lot it was arranged that James 
Breed should take the statue to 
Boston, and that E. R. Houghton 
should bring her back to Spring- 
field, and see that she was again 

64 



placed in the warehouse. Breed at- 
tended to the boxing and taking 
of the statue to Boston, and accom- 
panied her in the express car, 
the box having been addressed to 
him at Boston." Sabrina appeared 
safe and sound at the banquet, and 
was duly toasted, cheered, and 
kissed. In the light of subsequent 
happenings and the vociferous dis- 
approval of Sabrina by all present- 
day odd classmen, the following 
selection from the '93 Olio, pub- 
lished before she was stolen, is 
interesting as a proof that it is all 
a question of whether one is on 
the inside looking out or the outside 
looking in. At any rate, Sabrina 
was well loved by '93, their dinner 
was a great success, and this is what 
they said: 

" Shall we, who at that time 
looked upon our ' fostering divinity,' 
65 



ever forget her as she sat at the 
head of the table, surrounded with 
beautiful flowers? Can we fully 
realize what an odd and capricious 
fate has been hers? What con- 
trasts of life her homes have af- 
forded! From the unbroken still- 
ness of the haymow, and the damp 
silence of the cellar, she has been 
placed among rushing waters at 
the bottom of the Connecticut, and 
again carried over the land, in 
the dead of night, by the swift 
locomotive! She has seen the ter- 
rors of the dark forest contrasted 
with the gay lighted table, the 
feast and the songs! But through 
all these vicissitudes she has re- 
mained and will remain, lei us 
hope, through more tranquil years, 
* our fostering divinity, Sabrina.' " 
After this banquet in Boston, 
which was at the old Tremont 

66 



House, Houghton " took charge of 
the statue, rubbed out the address 
' Boston ' and inserted ' Springfield * 
in its place/' Then he reshipped 
it by the American Express Co. to 
Springfield, but did not personally 
accompany the statue, planning in- 
stead to go to that city by way of 
Amherst the next day to see to 
removing it to a place of conceal- 
ment. Meanwhile, things had been 
happening in Amherst, and this is 
why Houghton found no Sabrina 
waiting for him the next day in 
Springfield. 

The class of *94 was now in its '94 
Freshman year. It was an energetic (1891-1894) 
class and had determined to capture 
Sabrina. A committee was ap- 
pointed and charged with the duty 
of rescuing her from *93, the then 
Sophomore class. Nothing was 

67 



known of her until one day late in the 
spring" President Wood of '94 
learned through his well organized 
system of scouts that the banquet 
was being held in the Tremont 
House at Boston. Several other 
men of '94, who were intensely 
interested in the subject, as soon 
as they heard of the banquet, formed 
a pool and sent Ben Hyde well 
financed, to Boston, with the sole 
instruction to get Sabrina. " Hyde 
went to Boston and found that the 
'93 men had really been at the 
Tremont House the night before. 
By a judicious use of gold he suc- 
ceeded in extracting from the head 
porter of the hotel the fact that a 
large box had been shipped that 
morning to Springfield in the name 
of E. R. Houghton. Hyde took 
the first train to Springfield, walked 
into the American Express Office, 

68 



apparently in a terrible hurry, and 
asked if a large case had been 
received from Boston, addressed to 
E. R. Houghton. The clerk an- 
swered in the affirmative and said 
it was in the back room. If you 
have ever sat in a little game with 
four spades and one heart, you will 
appreciate that Hyde had to think 
quickly and put up a good bluff 
if he was to win. He put up the 
bluff — and it went." He asked the 
clerk if he had not received his 
telegram to ship the box immedi- 
ately back to Boston. The clerk 
said he had not, but that the head 
clerk was out and he would look 
through the files. Hyde realized 
his chance and pursued the fellow 
relentlessly, telling him he must 
have received the telegram, and 
that it was a matter of serious con- 
sequence to all concerned to have 

69 



delayed the return of the box. By 
this time Hyde had the poor clerk 
pretty well scared, and since of 
course no telegram could be found, 
Hyde gave a dramatic oath, and 
demanded when the next train went 
to Boston. The clerk hurriedly 
looked at his watch. By good 
luck there was one going in fifteen 
minutes. Hyde demanded if he 
could get it on that train for him. 
An empty express wagon was stand- 
ing at the door, and Hyde gave 
the man a dollar to take the box 
at once to the train. Ben Hyde 
then signed a receipt in his own 
name, the frightened clerk not notic- 
ing that it was not the name to 
which the box had been addressed. 
In ten minutes the statue was on 
the train, bound for Boston again. 
On the way, Hyde decided upon 
his subsequent plan of action. At 

70 



Worcester he sent a telegram to an 
old colored fellow in his father's 
employ in Boston, to meet him at 
the train with a wagon, and to say 
nothing to any one of the instructions. 
Hyde had known this old servant 
for a long time and was confident 
that he could be trusted; in many 
ways too he was an extremely 
valuable man, for he knew Boston 
thoroughly. The darky met him 
at the station and the two drove 
away with the box. Hardly had 
they taken it from the train, when 
the news leaked out, and for a 
few days there was the liveliest 
kind of a time keeping ahead of the 
detectives. It was not quite so 
simple as one might think to conceal 
a box of that size. The old darky, 
however, proved invaluable. He 
knew lots of hiding places in and 
out of Boston; so Hyde told him 
71 



the whole story and promised him 
a big sum of money if he would 
move the box every day and make 
sure that the detectives did not 
get hold of it. The old man liked 
the proposition; perhaps it roused 
his fighting blood. At any rate, 
he fulfilled his duties to the letter. 
First he hid the statue in an old 
blacksmith's shop in Cambridge. 
Two days later he moved it to the 
cellar of a colored Poker Club. 
Then Sabrina spent a couple of 
days hidden among the wharves of 
the big city, labelled " machinery." 
From the wharves, the darky took 
the box to the cellar of an old house 
in the South End of Boston. 

Meanwhile, Hyde had returned 
to Amherst, only to find that the 
Express Company had a warrant 
out for his arrest, and that '93 had 
raised a sum of money to finance a 

72 



search for Sabrina. Hyde quickly 
disappeared, supposedly to Boston; 
but in reality he went to New York 
and jumped on a steamer bound 
for Europe, just as it was leaving 
the dock, and spent the next two 
or three months abroad waiting 
for the excitement to die out. Only 
two men of '94 knew until his 
return where he had gone. 

The '93 Committee had urged 
the Express Company to get out 
the warrant for Hyde's arrest, and 
they and the detectives were only 
twenty-four hours behind him in 
their search. As soon as Hyde 
had slipped through their fingers, 
they turned all their attention to 
finding the statue. The Express 
Company traced it to the darky 
in Hyde's father's office. Detec- 
tives appeared one day in that 
office and threatened the old servant 

73 



with immediate arrest. The latter, 
however, had not been around a 
law office all his life for nothing. 
He was pretty sure that they had 
only a suspicion at the most, so he 
denied everything and paid no at- 
tention to their threats. After the 
detectives had left, he went to one 
of the members of the firm for reas- 
surance and told him the whole 
story. This member promised 
secrecy and advised the darky to 
bluff it out, and ask them for the 
warrant if they ever tried to arrest 
him. The old fellow found they 
had no warrant for him, so he 
remained firm to his word to Hyde. 
The rest of the '94 Committee were 
soon in touch with him with some 
more money, and thus clinched 
things. 

Naturally Hyde's father looked 
into the matter a little, and found 

74 



that the statue had been received 
as stolen property by '93 and that 
it had been taken from Amherst 
College by the class of '90. Hyde 
Sr., being at that time a trustee 
of the college, went to one of the 
officials of the Express Company, 
with whom he was well acquainted, 
and told him the circumstances, 
showing that the Express Company 
had no reason to prosecute the mat- 
ter until Amherst College should 
request them to do so. For the 
statue was the property of the college 
and the class of '93 had no claim 
on it whatever. Accordingly the 
matter was dropped by the Express 
Company, and '93 was left to fight 
out the battle alone. 

Upon hearing that the affair had 
been settled so far as the legal side 
was concerned, Ben Hyde returned 
from Europe and was fittingly wel- 

75 



corned by the men of his class, in 
recognition of his services to the 
good cause. Thus to these old 
Amherst men of '94 are all present- 
day Sabrina men indebted for that 
inestimable privilege of their college 
life. 

After Hyde's return, the colored 
guardian pro tem,v^as duly rewarded, 
and the statue was officially turned 
over to the President of '94, " Doc " 
Stone. " A committee proceeded 
at once to lay plans for a Sophomore 
banquet at which Sabrina should 
be present. A difficulty to contend 
with of course was not only the 
activity of '93 but the chance that 
that class might induce the Express 
Company to again take legal proceed- 
ings in order to repossess themselves of 
the statue, if its location was once dis- 
covered. For this reason much time 
was spent by the committee in 

76 



selecting a proper place for the 
dinner, and great precautions were 
taken in order to secure the arrival 
of the class at the point agreed upon 
without notice to the others in 
Amherst. After making personal 
inspection of many places, it was 
finally decided that Brattleboro, Ver- 
mont, was a suitable place; this 
both because it was near two state 
lines, so that if '94 came into con- 
flict with the authorities a rapid 
change of jurisdiction could be ef- 
fected, and also because the train 
schedule at that time rendered pur- 
suit after seven or eight o'clock in 
the evening practically impossible; 
besides, the committee had been 
able to perfect a plan for removing 
Sabrina from Brattleboro in a fairly 
safe way. 

The class was listed in small sec- 
tions, and each member of the 
77 



committee took charge of a section. 
On the night agreed upon for the 
banquet, each of these sections was 
informed about an hour before the 
time for departure that a special 
train would be found waiting on the 
New London and Northern R. R., 
between the hat factories. The 
entire class reached the station with- 
out exciting suspicion. The lights 
were all out on the train as it slowly 
moved into the station and took on 
its excited passengers.** Ned Burn- 
ham had written a song which we 
all know as " All Hail, Sabrina 
Dear!** and '94 sang that song all 
the way up to the banquet. Many 
a peaceful hamlet was gently aroused 
by the soft strains floating out on the 
stilFnight air, — 

All hail! Sabrina dear, 

The Widow of each passing year; 

Long may she live and be 

The Widow of posterity. 

78 



The class arrived at the Brooks House 
in Brattleboro at about ten o'clock in 
the evening, and no notice or alarm 
had yet been given in Amherst. 

For some time prior to the 
banquet, "Doc** Stone, then guard- 
ian of Sabrina, now Dean-elect of 
Columbia Lav/ School, — and Ben 
Hyde, now a very prominent lawyer 
in Boston, had scoured the country 
in the vicinity of Brattleboro with 
a view to securing a proper place 
in which to hide Sabrina. Mean- 
while, through the assistance of 
E. B. Smith, a *94 man whose 
home was in Brattleboro, arrange- 
ments had been made whereby 
Hyde shipped Sabrina to a certain 
groceryman in Brattleboro, known 
to Smith, who received her in a 
carload of miscellaneous groceries 
and placed her in the sub-cellar 
of his store in that village. ** Pre- 
79 



viously, Hyde and Stone had made 
arrangements with Hermon C. Har- 
vey, a well-known citizen of Ches- 
terfield, New Hampshire, living 
about eight miles from Brattleboro 
just over the state line, to have 
Sabrina secreted under the floor of 
his barn. Mr. Harvey possessed 
a large farm near the main high- 
way running through Brattleboro to 
Chesterfield, and one of his barns 
practically opened upon the highway. 
Stone arranged with him to take up 
the floor of his barn on the night of 
the banquet and dig a hole for the re- 
ception and concealment of Sabrina. 
On the afternoon of the day of 
the banquet, through the aid of 
Smith, these two men hired a pair 
of horses by the hour, and no 
questions were asked. In the evening 
after making the necessary arrange- 
ments with the groceryman, Stone 

80 



drove to his store and with the aid 
of Smith loaded Sabrina into the 
wagon, and took her to the rear 
entrance of the Brooks House. He 
unloaded the statue alone, and finally 
succeeded in carrying it into a 
small room adjoining the banquet 
hall. A few minutes later the class 
arrived in a body by the special train 
from Amherst. Sabrina was then 
unboxed, and formally introduced 
to the class of '94 amid thunderous 
applause and the ringing cheers of 
the banqueters. It was a long time 
ere the excitement died out, — the 
enthusiasm lasted all through the 
evening, with songs, toasts and 
cheers. After each '94 man had 
warmly embraced Sabrina and 
kissed her rosy lips, she was loaded 
into the wagon again, and ac- 
companied by Hyde, Howe and 
Smith, Stone drove over the hills 

81 



to Mr. Harvey's barn. The night 
was extremely dark and as there 
were no Hghts the team had some 
narrow escapes before reaching its 
destination. On the way out of 
Brattleboro, a rear guard of the 
football men was left at various 
points in order to prevent pursuit." 

On arriving at the barn, Stone 
and Hyde found everything left 
in readiness by Mr. Harvey. Not 
knowing, however, the exact dimen- 
sions of the box, he had not dug the 
hole large enough, and they found 
that they could not store her under 
the floor in the box. Consequently 
they were obliged to remove Sa- 
brina from the box, leaving her under 
the barn floor, covered with hay 
and chaff. The men replaced the 
boards as best they could and 
returned across the state line to 
Bratdeboro, with the empty box. 

82 



When they reached the Connecticut 
River, they effaced the marks on 
the box and threw it into the river. 
The two men then proceeded to 
Brattleboro, just as dawn was break- 
ing, and returned with their class- 
mates on the special train to Am- 
herst. 

'94 reached Amherst about seven 
o'clock, having been away a total 
of nine hours. They had stolen 
off so quietly that the college knew 
nothing of their absence. As the 
'93 and '95 men came to breakfast 
that morning, the Sophomores told 
them glowing stories of the banquet. 
The odd classmen were inclined to 
be skeptical and would not believe 
urjtil they saw the accounts in the 
papers. Then the fact that several 
men had missed their room-mates 
sufficed to convince the doubters 
that '94 had really had its banquet 
and had seen Sabrina. 



83 



During the next few days, there 
were many rumors of detective work 
done in Brattleboro and vicinity, 
but those in charge feh certain that 
they had covered their tracks so 
effectively that there could be no 
danger of discovery. 

Early in the following fall, how- 
ever, some excitement was caused 
by a stranger who met Hyde at an 
athletic meet in Springfield. The 
stranger claimed he knew where 
Sabrina was hidden. Stone was in 
Amherst that day and Hyde tele- 
graphed him at once. Stone dis- 
creetly declined, however, to move 
or show any interest, and the '93 
bluff failed. They had had detec- 
tives watching Stone and if they 
could scare him into going to 
Sabrina's hiding place to make cer- 
tain of her safety, all the detectives 
would have had to do would have 

84 



been to follow Stone. Later in the 
fall, however, about Thanksgiving 
time, Stone did slip up to Chester- 
field again, had a box made, and 
packed Sabrina for shipment. He 
had her carried over to Hinsdale and 
from there shipped by freight to 
Ben Hyde in Boston, under a ficti- 
tious name. '94 then took up plans 
to turn Sabrina over to '96, at the 
latter's Freshman banquet. At the 
last moment, however, it was decided 
that the risk was too great, and the 
actual transfer was not made until 
the Sophomore banquet of '96. 

" The class of '96 was in- *90 
troduced to the service of the gracious (1893-1895) 
Queen Sabrina immediately upon 
entering college in the fall of 1892. 
It was then being openly avowed 
that the concerted efforts of the 
odd classes, alumni as well as 

85 



student body, would spare neither 
money nor effort to capture the 
statue and prevent it from descending 
from '94 to '96. The latter were 
told that stern Fate and even the 
Faculty were against them. Had 
not the class of '94 by clandestine 
courtship taken the Queen from the 
suitors of '93, thereby shocking the 
Faculty, outraging the business con- 
ventions of an Express Company, 
even breaking the iron laws of the 
old Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts? Had not a prize been offered 
for the capture of the eloping Queen, 
and dire punishment threatened her 
suitor, if caught and convicted? 
Had not ' Old Doc,' amid the 
vociferations of '94, in the gymnasi- 
um, pounded more vigorously and 
shouted more lustily, — 'Gentlemen, 
gentlemen, I must be obeyed. I 
love you, but I must be obeyed'? 

86 



Had not the Jove-like Faculty, with 
a sense of scandaKzed propriety 
that a college sport should be car- 
ried to the infraction of laws, put 
on its specs in search of a possible 
victim? The atmosphere was 
charged with rumors subsequent to 
the report that Sabrina was really 
in the hands of *94, that they had 
stolen her from an express company 
and had had her at their banquet. 
Such was the atmosphere through 
which '96 tried to see its way to 
its Freshman banquet. 

'96, however, did have its supper. 
It was in February, 1893, at the 
Mansion House, Greenfield, Mass. 
So exciting was this event that 
later '96 men were almost denied 
the benefit of a college education. 
Of course, it was never seriously 
expected that, as Freshmen, they 
would have Sabrina so near Old 

87 



Amherst. But no chances were 
taken. Arrangements were being 
made for a special train on the 
Vermont Central, to be boarded at 
the crossing one mile north of the 
Amherst Station. So far the plans 
worked like a charm, but as the 
special slowed up for the embarka- 
tion, a whoop like that of maddened 
savages issued from the car. The 
entire class of '95 and many '93 
men had preceded '94 as uninvited 
guests. In some mysterious way 
they had discovered the time at 
which the class was to leave town. 
Fortunately, no one knew where 
the supper was to be. A whispered 
suggestion that the guests must be 
prevented from going to Brattleboro 
had the right psychological effect. 
At Millers Falls '96 was ordered 
off the train and '95 and '93 were 
formally challenged to wage combat. 

88 



' No, no,' cried they, thinking 
this was a '96 ruse to get them off 
the train. Immediately upon their 
exuhant refusal, a number of '96 
men seized and held the doors, 
while the train was ordered forward 
at full speed, and all the unwelcome 
guests were carried out of the way. 
The odd classmen had been thor- 
oughly outwitted. The real destina- 
tion of '96, of course, was Green- 
field, but the scare had been too 
great to risk bringing Sabrina into 
that region, so Stone, '94, did not 
take her to the banquet. He re- 
turned her immediately to Boston. 

'96 had a successful banquet 
otherwise, however. In fact the suc- 
cess of having outwitted '95 was too 
much for some of the fellows. Green- 
field was painted the proverbial red. 
The next morning. President Gates 
summoned the leaders of '96 to his 
89 



official sanctum, where sat the sheriff 
of Greenfield, who submitted to the 
class, bills which ran as follows : 

To one spectacle sign, $10.00 

To one barber pole, 5.00 

To photographer's showcase, 2 5 .00 
To doorplates, bearing the 

words 'pj^ivate,* etc., each 3.00 

To napkins, 35.00 

To tea spoons, 50.00 

The reputation of the class would 
certainly have been ruined had not 
opportunity been given for a guarded 
return of the pilfered prizes to the 
van wagon which toted the relics 
back to Greenfield. 

Next year, however, during the 
Winter Term, came the great event, 
when as Sophomores '96 dined 
at Nassau, New Hampshire. By 
special train again, in which were 
involved high officials of the railway, 
who entered into the sport from 

90 



President down to Trainmen, the 
entire class, this time without un- 
invited guests, assembled like bandits 
outside the jurisdiction of Old Massa- 
chusetts." The ride to Nassau was 
a most hilarious one, with singing 
and cheers. The men of '95 had 
no suspicion, in fact they did not 
know of the banquet until Chapel 
the next morning. 

To preside at this feast, Sabrina 
had been awakened from her long 
nap in a sausage factory in Boston, 
where Hyde had stored her. Prop- 
erly to travel incognito, thereby 
avoiding the vigilance of express 
offices, she went from Boston to 
Nassau under the name of " Photo- 
graphic Supplies. Handle with 
Care." She was brought to the 
banquet by Stone, '94, and there 
formally turned over to '96. Charles 
J. Staples, now a very prominent 
91 



lawyer of Buffalo, was the recipient 
guardian. " She was given a most 
enthusiastic reception and occupied 
the seat of honor at the table. After 
Sabrina had been hugged and ca- 
ressed and fittingly toasted, she disap- 
peared in the arms of the football 
men of '96, and by devious routes 
and frequent changes was cautiously 
taken across the state line into 
Vermont, and there locked away 
from the next day's light in a granary. 
To add to the pleasure and by 
way of a ruse, the new guardian, 
Staples, had the box in which she 
had travelled from the packing 
house in Boston to Nassau packed 
with rubbish and shipped under 
guard from Nassau to Connecticut, 
with all the care that might have at- 
tended the real Queen. By the great 
daring and cunning of '95, joined 
with the intentional negligence of 

92 



'96, this box labelled 'Photographic 
Supplies. Handle with Care,' fell 
into the odd classmen's hands. 
Great was the rejoicing among them 
until the box was opened, when, 
behold, instead of Sabrina, they 
found a lot of iron scrap lodged in 
some bad straw. '95 never fully 
recovered from this disappointment, 
and it was a source of considerable 
amusement for '96. The next night, 
after the celebration, Staples took 
Sabrina with great care from the 
granary and placed her in a deep 
cistern in the attic of a house 
in Brandon, Vermont." Nothing 
could touch her there, Staples felt 
sure. 

Imagine the feelings of Sta- 
ples, however, when, attending a 
society function at Smith College 
one evening, he heard a certain 
Smith College Sophomore say in 

93 



the presence of himself and some 
'95 men, " Oh, I know all about 
Sabrina and where she is," and 
then Staples heard this same young 
lady, when asked for information, 
say, " Why Sabrina is in a certain 
house in Brandon, Vermont, in a 
cistern in the attic." — "Great Gods!" 
thought Staples, pretending not to 
hear and making a desperate at- 
tempt to control his features, in 
order not to attract the attention 
of the '95 men present. These latter 
were keenly alive to all the girl 
said, but made no move to follow 
the matter until the evening was 
over. Meanwhile, Staples had 
made his excuses as best he could, 
and ** without change from dress 
clothes catching the first train north, 
appeared the next morning in the 
little Vermont town. He secretly 
planned to remove the precious 

94 



charge from that precarious hole. 
But how had Sabrina's place of 
concealment become known? It is 
the usual story. There was only 
one other man besides Staples who 
knew of her hiding-place, and he 
was the most faithful fellow on earth. 
But when pinned down under a 
fiery cross-examination, these con- 
demning facts appeared. The fel- 
low who was temporary guardian 
of Sabrina on the Nassau trip had 
a sweetheart in Boston, who read 
the papers, who knew that this young 
gendeman was a '96 Amherst man, 
and who in quiet moments had 
heard him speak of going to Vermont 
and New Hampshire. What more 
was necessary for the imaginative 
mind of the young lady? She had 
talked the matter over in strict 
confidence with her good mother, 
who in turn was so tremendously 
95 



interested at the jolly sport of college 
boys that she had to tell her most 
intimate friend at a tea party in 
Boston, which friend, in turn, had 
a daughter in Smith College, and 
this daughter, on a recent vacation 
home, had heard the now rather 
amplified story of Sabrina. This 
sequence of confidences is what 
led to the dramatic climax on that 
evening of the social function in 
Smith College. 

But within twenty-four hours of 
this event, the dear Goddess Sa- 
brina was beyond the reach of the 
rapidly pursuing '95 men. On 
the wings of night she flew to western 
New York, appearing to be in 
great demand as " Special Machin- 
ery," and thereafter she was taken 
by dray over long country roads 
until finally she found a quiet 
habitation under lock and key in a 

96 



carriage room in a small country 
town of Elba, New York. Here 
she remained in blissful security 
until the class of '98 had so grown 
in grace that it in turn could take 
the precious charge. 

During the Freshman year of the *98 
class of '98, '97 was very active (1895-1897) 
in trying to locate Sabrina, especially 
through Richard Billings, President 
of '97, who spent considerable time, 
energy and money in maintaining a 
staff of Pinkerton detectives. Conse- 
quently no attempt was made by 
'96 to transfer Sabrina to '98 during 
the latter's Freshman year. '98 
had a Freshman banquet at Hart- 
ford, but Sabrina was not in attend- 
ance. To make up for this, the 
enthusiastic Freshmen adopted the 
spoons and forks of the hotel as 
memorials of the occasion. 
97 



Samuel B. Furbish, now con- 
nected with Bowdoin College, at 
Brunswick, Me., was chosen '98 
guardian, and upon| his being in- 
formed that he had been honored 
with the custody of Sabrina, "pre- 
pared to go to Rotterdam Junction, 
New York, to get possession of her. 
He had to look around for an 
excuse to get out of town, that he 
might not excite any suspicion among 
the men of '97. It happened that 
Furbish had a cousin in Springfield 
who was seriously ill, and for three 
or four days he took particular 
pains to tell of this case to his as- 
sociates, that they might suppose 
he had gone there if they noted his 
absence at all. The night that he 
had chosen to leave Amherst, there 
happened to be an attractive ' star ' 
at the Academy of Music in North- 
ampton, so Furbish accompanied 

98 



the crowd as far as that city and 
then slipped away to Greenfield. 
After spending the night at Eagle 
Bridge, New York, he reached 
Rotterdam Junction the next morn- 
ing and there was met by a gen- 
tleman who, after severely cross- 
examining Furbish with a series 
of prescribed questions, took his 
receipt and turned over the very 
large packing box which contained 
the far-famed Sabrina." That after- 
noon Furbish shipped the box to 
a mythical manufacturing company 
in Bennington, Vermont. For a 
time it looked as if there was going 
to be trouble, when after trying 
three doors of the express car it 
was found that the box would not 
go in. But fortunately the fourth 
door was large enough to let it pass, 
and Sabrina arrived without mishap 
at Bennington, Furbish going on 

99 



the same train. At Bennington the 
box was carried to the stable of 
the Putnam House and there de- 
posited in the hayloft, where it was 
unpacked, and the Fair Goddess 
again saw the Hght of day. She 
was carried to a small room adjoin- 
ing the banquet hall of the hotel 
in preparation for the Sophomore 
banquet of the class of '98 to be 
held there that night. 

*' Meanwhile, in the evening of 
this 14th of November, 1895, the 
class walked to North Amherst in 
small groups, where they hid in a 
ditch in the pouring rain until a 
special train picked them up to 
take them to Bennington. No out- 
breaks of mirth and rejoicing and 
no lights were allowed until North 
Amherst was a good distance behind. 
Then the class let loose, and with 
songs and cheers showed their joy at 

100 



having outwitted '97, and stolen 
away without being discovered. 
Once arrived at Bennington, the Kne 
of march formed, and rousing the 
town with their yells, proceeded to 
the Putnam House. In the banquet 
hall the officers of the class and 
guests of honor sat at the head 
table, while immediately opposite 
was a richly upholstered divan. 
Soon the folding door was opened, 
and amidst shouts of applause the 
beautiful Sabrina appeared borne 
by several faithful representatives of 
the gridiron. A toast to her was 
then given and following that the 
whole class in long line passed 
around and she received from each 
man a fond caress. Then Sabrina 
withdrew, and the class sat down 
to a sumptuous banquet. 

It was a sleepy, tired, but happy 
gang that sought the cars at four 

10] 



o'clock that morning. Cushions 
were made into beds and soon 
weary men could be seen trying to 
sleep, but in vain. Bands of sleep- 
less ones roamed up and down 
the aisles, shouting and singing. 
Day dawned at last, and after a 
brief wait at Millers Falls, the 
special train sped on to Amherst 
and the Chapel, which the class 
attended in a body that morning. 
They laughed and jeered at their 
foiled friends of *97 and '99. 
Everyone knew that '98 had been 
on its class supper and had seen 
Sabrina." 

After Sabrina was taken from 
the banquet hall. Furbish again 
secured her in the box, with all 
the hay that could be packed 
around her. Arrangements had 
been previously made for a team 
and baggage wagon to be ready 

102 



at one o'clock that morning to 
take the box across the New 
York boundary to the town of 
Cambridge, where they arrived in 
the early morning, after a sleepy 
drive through the rain, and over 
some terrible roads. From Cam- 
bridge, Furbish shipped the box by 
express to Albany, and upon arriv- 
ing there, took it to a blacksmith's 
shop on a thoroughly deserted street. 
He remained there for some hours 
to see if any one seemed to be 
following on his trail. Everything 
was quiet, however, and he took 
Sabrina to a warehouse, and left 
her there in safe keeping under lock 
and key, to remain for the intervening 
time until the next guardian should 
be installed. This took place the 
last of October, 1897, when Fur- 
bish went to Albany and after 
taking the box from the warehouse 

103 



turned it over to E. E. Green of 
the class of 1900. 

W The class of 1900 held its 

^ " ^ Sophomore banquet on Monday 
evening, November 1 , 1 897, at 
the Hotel Mohican in New London. 
" On the preceding Saturday, 
Green, '00, had gone to New 
London and carefully made arrange- 
ments to prevent any possibility of 
Sabrina's being captured by the 
members of the odd classes. A 
trustworthy driver was secured and 
a forty-mile drive across the state 
planned. Green secured the co- 
operation and good-will of the 
proprietor of the Hotel Mohican, 
so that all would be in readiness 
for Monday night. After receiving 
Sabrina from Furbish, *98, at Al- 
bany, Green immediately shipped 
her to New London. He, too, had 

104 



considerable trouble in getting the 
box into the express car, and this 
in the rather crowded station at 
Albany caused many an anxious 
moment for the guardian. A five- 
hundred-pound box is not an easy 
thing to handle or conceal, and he 
feared lest even a chance visitor 
might discover its presence there. 
Sabrina finally reached New Haven 
by way of the B. & A. railroad to 
Pittsfield, and from there N. Y., 
N. H. & H., to New Haven. Much 
to his dismay, Green learned that 
the last express for New London had 
gone, — and this was the afternoon 
of the day of the banquet. How- 
ever, by the kindness of the express 
agent, whose sympathy was gained 
by the pitiful story told him of the 
urgent need of getting this valuable 
' machine ' in New London that 
night, Sabrina was soon again speed- 
105 



ing on toward her beloved devotees. 
Preceding the class by two or three 
hours, on his arrival in New London 
Green took Sabrina immediately to 
the hotel and by the time '00 
arrived she was ready to receive 
them. As the class was seated 
in the banquet hall a delegation 
of four retired and returned with 
Sabrina. After the usual enthusiasm 
and each member of the class had 
made his obeisance to the Goddess, 
she was escorted from the room 
and within an hour again started 
on her travels.*' The forty-mile 
ride across the state was one of the 
wildest that either Sabrina or her 
guardian had ever taken. At just 
twelve o'clock, Green started with 
a team, the driver being his only 
companion. " It was one of the 
darkest nights imaginable, with rain 
pouring down in torrents, making 

106 



the roads a sea of mud. Every 
sound was intensified in the darkness 
and many times Green feh certain 
that there were followers on the 
trail. As the hours passed the 
strain from excitement began to tell 
and was keenly felt. Blacker and 
blacker seemed to grow the dark- 
ness, and a dense fog seemed to 
settle down along with the rain. 
And it was only by the sense of 
feeling that either Green or the 
driver knew whether the team was 
in the road or in the ditch. After 
travelling about three hours in this 
way, something broke and the wagon 
lurched to one side. Upon examina- 
tion with a lantern, they found 
that one of the bolts holding the 
pole to the axle had broken. This 
looked discouraging, as the roads 
had been through dense woods 
without a sign of habitation for 

107 



many miles, and the place where 
the relay of horses was waiting was 
fully a mile ahead, with a long, 
steep hill intervening." The break 
was repaired as well as was possible 
in the darkness by rope and parts 
of the harness, and once more they 
began their weary journey, just as 
the light of day was breaking in the 
east. The barn where fresh horses 
were waiting was reached, but the 
driver refused to proceed until the 
break in the wagon had been 
repaired. Green was unable to per- 
suade him, so had to wait for a 
blacksmith to open up his shop. 
This meant a three hours' delay, 
which meant the missing of the 
proposed railroad connection and 
a greater possibility of discovery, 
should it happen that any one was 
following Green. 

There was no sleep possible under 

108 



such a strain, but the haymow 
offered a most inviting place to pass 
the time. Here Green and the 
driver rested until six o'clock, when 
they aroused a blacksmith and re- 
paired the wagon. Within an hour 
Sabrina was again speeding on her 
way and they reached the station 
just in time for the train. The 
journey to Albany was uneventful 
and Green, on reaching there, again 
hid Sabrina in the warehouse where 
she had formerly been. There the 
Goddess remained in quiet soli- 
tude until handed over to the class 
of *02, in the spring of their Sopho- 
more year. 

When Green returned to Amherst, 
he found his classmates most dis- 
turbed over a report which appeared 
in the New London paper stating 
that on the night that Sabrina was 
taken from New London she was 
109 



followed by the class of *99, who 
saw her guardian take the God- 
dess to a certain lake and placing 
her on a raft go out into the lake 
and drown her. It was claimed 
that she had been removed from 
her watery grave by the members 
of '99, after the guardian had 
returned to Amherst. This is but 
one example of the fertile imagina- 
tion of many reporters who try 
to tell of the wanderings of our 
Goddess. It was true, however, 
that the day after the banquet 
members of '99 were in New 
London and offered big sums of 
money for any information regarding 
the hiding-place of Sabrina or the 
route of her escape. 

*02 Sabrina came into the possession 

(1889-1902) of the class of 1902 early in the 

spring of 1899. At that time she 

110 



was still in storage at Albany. 
Robert Cleeland, '02, was selected 
guardian for his class. He re- 
ceived her from Green, '00, at 
Albany, and intended to ship her 
to Springfield. The case which 
held Sabrina was in bad repair, 
however, and so bulky that only 
the largest of car doors would 
admit it. He therefore had a more 
compact case built, and also had 
an arm of the statue repaired, 
which had been badly broken. 
This work was done by an artisan 
in West Albany. At length Sabrina 
was ready for shipment to Spring- 
field, where she was stored in the 
factory of Kibbe Brothers, on Har- 
rison Avenue. On the train coming 
from Albany, Sabrina had an escort 
of about a dozen fellows, both odd 
and even classes, returning from 
Easter vacation, — entirely unaware, 
111 



however, of the honor being done 
them in being allowed to ride on the 
same train with the Goddess. 

1902 had planned to hold its 
Freshman banquet at the Hotel 
Wellington, North Adams, Massa- 
chusetts, and Cleeland had com- 
pleted final arrangements for trans- 
porting Sabrina to that place when 
a telegram apprised him that the 
plans for the banquet had been 
discovered by the odd classmen. 
Cleeland immediately cancelled all 
arrangements and returned to Am- 
herst. 

The banquet was finally held in 
June, 1899, at The Worthy, in 
Springfield, Massachusetts. This 
was a somewhat risky undertaking 
on account of the proximity of 
Springfield to Amherst. It was very 
convenient, however, for Cleeland to 
take Sabrina from the Kibbe factory 

112 



to the hotel, only a few blocks away, 
and return her without exciting any 
suspicion at all. The banquet went 
off in good shape and after Sabrina 
was duly cheered and kissed by all 
the men present, she was returned 
to the top floor of the Kibbe factory, 
having been away from her hiding 
place less than an hour. There she 
remained quietly until she was 
turned over to the class of I 904. 

Donald Bardett, '04, was origi- *04 
nally appointed guardian for his (>902-1904) 
class. For some reason or other 
suspicion seemed to center in the 
minds of the odd classmen upon 
Bartlett as the possible guardian, and 
some of their men, especially those 
in Bartlett's fraternity, watched him 
night and day. So, perforce, Haw- 
kins, then President of '04, told 
Bartlett that he would be unable 
113 



to serve as guardian, and shortly 
before the time of the *04 banquet 
Joseph B. Eastman was appointed 
guardian. 

The day before the class ban- 
quet, in New London, Connecticut, 
which was held May 4, 1902, 
*' Eastman left Amherst on the plea 
that his uncle had just died and that 
he was going to attend his funeral. 
He went down to Springfield, stay- 
ing over night at the Massasoit 
House under an assumed name. 
Next day he met Cleeland, '02, and 
had Sabrina taken from the factory 
to the train and expressed to New 
Haven. Eastman accompanied her 
on the same train, saw her unloaded 
at New Haven and re-expressed 
to New London. In the station 
at New Haven, Eastman met a 
classmate of his and had considerable 
difficulty in explaining to him his 

114 



presence there at that time. He, 
however, told some lie to satisfy 
the man and managed to catch the 
same train with Sabrina to New 
London. There he had the box 
taken by a local expressman to the 
hotel where the banquet was to 
be held. 

The proprietor of the hotel was 
the only one who knew what was 
up, and he told the expressman 
some lie about the contents of the 
box. It was hauled up to the 
second story of the hotel by a 
block and tackle in the rear, where 
they sometimes handled heavy bag- 
gage. She was then placed in a 
room immediately adjoining the ban- 
,quet and there waited for the class 
to arrive. Just before the banquet, 
the box was unpacked and Sabrina 
was placed upon a table in this 
adjoining room. After the banquet 

115 



was in session, all the class filed in 
one by one and kissed her chaste 
lips, vowing eternal allegiance. She 
was then packed up again and taken 
in a light spring wagon from the 
hotel, having been let down by 
means of the block and tackle which 
had taken her up. With a good 
team of horses she was quickly carted 
to the pier of the Norwich Line, 
where she was loaded on board 
the boat for New York. Eastman 
went along with her and immediately 
on arrival in New York City had 
her taken to a storehouse on West 
Street, where he left her under an 
assumed name." 

Just before Sabrina was to be 
turned over to the class of 1 906, 
Eastman was elected President of 
'04, and so gave the care of Sabrina 
to Hawkins, whom he had succeeded. 



116 



Sabrina passed into the hands *0Q 
of '06 at their Sophomore banquet, (^904-1906) 
held in the Murray Hill Hotel, 
in New York City. Ralph W. 
Wheeler, '06; was chosen guardian. 
He was at Hartford with the base- 
ball team two days before the ban- 
quet, which was held on May 9th, 
1 904, and under the pretext of 
going to stay with a relative, Wheeler 
left the team without creating sus- 
picion and reached New York City 
that evening. The next morning, 
which was Sunday, Wheeler met 
Hawkins, '04, who took him to the 
basement of the Murray Hill Hotel 
and showed him among the stacks 
of trunks, a large box which he said 
contained the famous Sabrina. The 
box had been there since the after- 
noon of the day before. 

Monday, May 9th, about noon, 
the class of '06 with numerous 
117 



other even classmen arrived at the 
hotel and shortly after were as- 
sembled in one of the parlors to 
view and kiss the Goddess. The 
ceremony over, she was repacked 
by Hawkins and Eastman, *04, and 
taken to the basement of the hotel 
where she was officially turned over 
to Wheeler as guardian, who hur- 
ried her away from the hotel before 
there could be any chance of trouble 
from odd classmen. She was 
loaded into a dray and carried 
through the city. Wheeler followed 
not far behind and soon got into 
trouble. No one had seen an odd 
classman, but the streets were full 
of men of his own class and he had 
to stop to talk with them (because 
it is essential for a guardian to 
conceal his identity even from 
the members of his own class), 
and Wheeler found it difficult to 

118 



explain why he was in such a hurry. 
Meanwhile, the boxed Sabrina, 
looming up like a mountain as it 
seemed to him, was passing on down 
the street in plain view of all, and 
he had to follow on. The trip, 
however, was at last accomplished, 
and Sabrina was taken to the 
northern part of Manhattan and 
there hidden in the second story 
of a machine shop, where Wheeler 
left her until she was to be turned 
over to '08. 

The Sophomore banquet of the *08 
class of 1908 was held at the Hotel (1906-1908) 
Astor in New York City on March 
19th, 1906; and there Sabrina was 
given into the charge of Fayette F. 
Read, guardian for '08. After the 
usual ceremonies, Sabrina left the 
jovial circle of '08 banqueters and, 
under the charge of Read, was 

119 



carted to a Fifth Avenue warehouse, 
where she was to be left for a week. 
Read, having returned to Amherst, 
sent an order to the warehouse to 
have the box forwarded. In a few 
days he received a letter from the 
company asking him to come im- 
mediately to New York and see the 
contents of his box. The letter said, 
" There is nothing in it but a battered 
old statue which seems badly used," 
and refused to ship it until Read had 
seen it. Consequently he took the 
midnight train for New York, filled 
with apprehension, and was vastly 
relieved the next morning to see 
Sabrina's smiling face the same as 
ever. Truly she did look a little 
misused, and to an outsider the 
intrinsic value of the statue would 
seem to be almost nil. When it is 
remembered how many wild ad- 
ventures the statue has been through, 

120 



it is remarkable that anything is 
left at all. A brief explanation 
served to satisfy the warehouse 
people, and after a new case had 
been made for her to travel in, 
Read had her expressed to Holyoke, 
Massachusetts, and immediately 
upon her arrival took her in a big 
wagon up the river road and hid her 
under his brother's log cabin, " The 
Pines,' facing on the river, where 
she was left until the Sophomore 
banquet of the class of 1910. 

On March 4th, 1908, Read, '08, ^0 
turned Sabrina over to the class (1908-1910) 
of I 9] at their Sophomore banquet, 
held at the Hotel Astor, New York 
City, Max Shoop acting as guardian 
for ' 1 0. Sabrina in all her glory 
was kissed and toasted by the 
banqueters with more than usual 
fervor. She was then quickly taken 

121 



out into the darkness — and eventu- 
ally to the Httle cabin on the Connec- 
ticut River, north of Holyoke, w^here 
she remained until the spring of 
1909. 

The class of 1910, as represented 
by Fink, President, and the ap- 
pointed guardian, decided to stir 
up a little excitement by bringing 
Sabrina into Amherst and showing 
her to the public at the Williams 
game, during the 1910 Junior Prom 
w^eek. This was in May, 1909. 
Every detail was carefully worked 
out and every possible emergency 
prepared for. The week before 
the Prom, Hal Greene, ' 1 2, brought 
his big seven seater Royal Tourist 
up to College and rode around with 
Juniors and Freshmen so that the 
machine might not, on the appointed 
day, excite too much suspicion. On 
Monday night. May 24th, at about 

122 



midnight, the Royal Tourist, with 
Fink, Francis, Henry and Shoop, 
*10, and Corwin and Greene, '12, 
with the latter at the wheel, sped 
rapidly down the river road to 
Read's cottage and brought Sabrina, 
covered with burlap, back into 
Amherst about two o'clock in the 
morning. The town was quiet, and 
no one saw the big machine as it 
passed noiselessly down Pleasant 
Street to the home of John Henry, 
' 1 0, on North Pleasant Street. Here, 
with bated breath, the men tenderly 
carried Sabrina into the cellar of the 
house and left her in an out-of-the- 
way corner until the next day. 

That afternoon, which was Tues- 
day, word was passed round to all 
the Juniors, that is, the class of 1910, 
to leave quietly that night after 
fraternity meetings and come by 
twos or threes to Henry's barn. 

123 



No further information was given 
except that nothing was to be said 
to any other persons whatsoever* 
About ten o'clock that night the 
above-mentioned men gathered in 
Henry's cellar and after careful 
consultation over all details carried 
Sabrina into the adjoining barn. 
At 10.30 that night, the class of 
1910 gathered by candle light in 
this little barn on North Pleasant 
Street and gazed on the radiant 
form of Sabrina while a " flash- 
light " was taken. Then in awed 
silence every man in turn kissed 
the Goddess and passed quietly 
out into the darkness, with a parting 
injunction from the guardian to say 
absolutely nothing to other people 
of the night's doings until Sabrina 
was at a safe distance. It had been 
a complete surprise to practically 
the entire class, and the suppressed 

124 



whispers and pleased, anxious faces 
showed that they realized their 
privilege in the fact that Sabrina had 
not been in Amherst for fifteen years. 
When all had gone, the sextette 
above mentioned, trembling from 
fear lest the odd classmen might 
discover Sabrina's presence before 
they got away, made all haste to 
get Sabrina into the tonneau of the 
big Royal Tourist and take her 
quickly from Henry's barn to the cel- 
lar of the home of Mr. Toole, a 
farmer living way out on the North 
Road, on the way to Sunderland. 
There Sabrina was left until the next 
day at noon. This was Wednes- 
day, the day of the Prom Game 
with Williams. By two o'clock 
the college had marched in proces- 
sion behind the band to Pratt Field 
and as soon as the coast was clear 
the big machine, this time containing 
125 



Francis, Fink, and Shoop, '10, and 
Madden, Corwin, and Greene, ' 1 2, 
stole from the precincts of the town 
of Amherst to the farmhouse on the 
North Road. Sabrina was care- 
fully placed in the tonneau and the 
stunt of lifting her high in the air 
while the machine was going at a 
good speed was practised on the 
way in. A supply of clubs lay 
in the bottom of the car, ready for 
instant defense, and the machine 
started for Amherst. 

Every detail had been arranged 
for at the field. Two parties of men 
were detailed to watch each gate, 
the plan being to run Sabrina onto 
the field and off again during one 
of the innings of the game. One 
man was detailed to smash the 
telephone in the grand-stand. Two 
others were detailed to follow the 
machine in motor cycles as it left the 

126 



field, and to head off possible 
pursuers. Two others were in- 
structed to put all odd classmen's 
motor cycles out of business, and 
a number of others were told to 
tackle any of the crowd that might 
make a quick start to head off the 
machine. Each man had been told 
that the machine would swing in 
on the field at exactly 4.05, im- 
mediately after the Northampton 
car had gone out. Avery, * 1 0, was 
to have a second machine just outside 
the fence to follow in the wake of the 
big car, to block pursuit or to carry 
the statue if anything should happen 
to the Royal Tourist. New locks 
and chains were secured with which 
to fasten the gates after the machine 
had left the field, to hinder possible 
pursuit by other autos. At the 
under-pass on Northampton Road 



127 



preparations had been made to 
block the road if necessary. 

At the appointed hour everything 
at the field was in readiness, and the 
men in their positions. At exactly 
4 p.m., the big machine, with 
Sabrina covered with heavy robes 
in the tonneau, drove into town, 
down Pleasant Street and around 
the Common, daringly exultant over 
the secret it held. As soon as the 
Hamp car had left, the Royal 
Tourist ran down Amity Street and 
out Lincoln Avenue, and swung into 
the " Hamp Road " very near the 
field. It was five minutes after 
four and the watchers who met the 
machine said it was the fifth inning 
with Amherst in the field. This 
was the most propitious time and 
the machine with the six excited men, 
their hearts literally in their mouths, 
sped onto the field and around the 

128 



track. This certainly was bearding 
the lion in his den. Little did those 
intent stands, as they casually noticed 
the big machine coming onto the 
field, realize its precious burden. 
Not even the class of 1910, who 
had seen Sabrina the night before, 
knew that she was to appear before 
them on the field. No suspicions 
had yet been aroused, and the 
machine quietly took its place along- 
side the last of the long line of 
autos in front of the tennis courts. 
There happened to be some odd 
classmen in the next car. They, 
however, noticed nothing strange 
in the pile of blankets in the tonneau 
of the Royal Tourist, and they 
waved a merry recognition. Before 
Greene found it necessary to stop 
his engines to avoid suspicion, a 
pop fly closed the inning, and the 
big car with Sabrina started with 

129 



a jump for the diamond and bore 
down the second base line at 
about thirty miles an hour before 
the astounded multitude. The 
baseball men rapidly fell away 
from in front of the machine. Abso- 
lute silence reigned, for the people 
thought that the occupants of the 
machine must be drunk. At the 
moment the car passed over the first 
base, the men in the back quickly 
lifted Sabrina high above their 
heads to the gaze of the many 
people gathered in the stands. For 
a few seconds nothing broke the 
stillness but the chug chug of the 
two motor bikes which, according 
to instructions, shot out from near 
the bleachers and followed the 
receding car in which Sabrina was 
still raised exultingly on high. After 
a moment's dazed paralysis a wild 
cheer broke from the many Sabrina 

130 



men in the stands and a strenuous 
time ensued as some of the odd 
classmen tried to follow the machine, 
and some of them with motor bikes 
were swearing because they could 
not get them to go. Every man in 
the scheme had done his duty 
faithfully, and as the gates were 
quickly shut and locked after the 
flying car, pursuit was practically 
useless. It was some time before 
the game was resumed, but when 
it was Amherst took hold with 
such a will that McClure, our 
Sabrina pitcher, won a no-hit 2 to 
victory over Williams. It was a 
big day all around. 

Meanwhile, the Royal Tourist 
had disappeared down the Hamp 
hill at sixty miles an hour, with 
Avery's car following in the rear, 
and Bedford and Ladd on motor 
bikes following in a whirl of dust. 

131 



At the crossroads in Hadley the 
machine stopped for a moment, the 
occupants finding that they were 
not pursued, and Avery's car was 
instructed to proceed on over to 
" Hamp " to throw off suspicion, 
while Bedford and Ladd rode back 
to Amherst. The men guarding Sa- 
brina proceeded in their machine 
on down the river road and secreted 
Sabrina in the cellar of a jewelry 
store on High Street, in Holyoke, 
Mass. The affair had been a com- 
plete success, and the six men 
who had been in the machine all 
the time were weak with the ner- 
vous excitement of that thrilling 
hour. Pursuit had been very scat- 
tered and proved futile. The odd 
classmen had been thrown complete- 
ly off the track. 

There was just one time on that 
eventful day when it looked as if 

132 



plans were going to be seriously 
upset. It seems that Sanderson, a 
tradesman in town, lives opposite 
Henry's house on Pleasant Street, 
and the night before, as he was 
sitting on his veranda, he had 
noticed the gathering of the class 
in Henry's barn and later saw 
Sabrina taken away in a machine. 
A vivid imagination had led him 
next day to say to an Amherst man 
who had dropped into his store, 
*' I hear you are going to have 
Sabrina at the game to-day." This 
was at 1 .30. As luck would have 
it, this Amherst man happened to 
be a Junior and a Sabrina man, 
and as soon as he left the store 
he hunted up one of the men who 
had charge of Sabrina and told 
him what Sanderson had said. 
Filled with alarm, this individual 
hastened to Sanderson's store and 

133 



told him to keep still and say 
nothing until after the game at 
least. Sanderson acquiesced will- 
ingly, and this danger was safely 
passed. 




134 



CIt was some time before the 
excitement of that afternoon's episode 
died out, though it spent consider- 
able of its force in a fight up town 
after the game. Only a few days 
after this, Fink, President of 1910, 
received a letter from the class of 
'94 written the day before the 
appearance of Sabrina on Pratt 
Field, asking if the Juniors could 
not bring the Goddess to '94's 
reunion banquet in Amherst at Com- 
mencement time. Fink and Shoop 
talked it over and believed it rather 
a risky proposition on top of the 
Prom episode; but realizing the 
debt that all Sabrina men owe 
to '94 for having secured Sabrina 
for them from '93, it was decided to 
make a try for it, and if possible 
bring Sabrina to their banquet. 
All care and secrecy was used in 
preparation. The odd classmen 
135 



were suspicious, however, that some 
such thing might take place, and 
several of the men in ' 1 0, particularly 
the two above mentioned, were 
watched all the time. However, 
every detail had been arranged for, 
and at the appointed time, Monday, 
June 28th, two machines, which 
had been rented in Springfield, left 
the rear of the jewelry store in Hol- 
yoke with Sabrina and the follow- 
ing men, Francis, Seligman and 
Shoop, ' 1 0, Corwin, Broughton and 
Johns, ' 1 2. The machines pro- 
ceeded up the river road into Had- 
ley. Fink had been detailed with 
a number of men to remain in 
Amherst to keep the coast clear 
and see that no excitement was 
aroused. They were to watch par- 
ticularly Hitchcock Hall, where 
the '94 banquet was to be held.. 
Arrangements had been made for 

136 



Shoop to call Fink at 7.30, at 8. 
and at 8.25 P. M., at different 
points along the line, so that at any- 
one of these points, if the odd 
classmen were gathering for trouble 
in Amherst, the machines might 
turn and flee immediately with their 
precious burden. 

The last call was to be made from 
the hat factory, by the C. V. R. R. 
and then, if the coast was clear, 
the machines were to make a dash 
for Hitchcock Hall. If between the 
last call and the time the machines 
reached the hall any trouble arose, 
red lights were to be fired by the 
men on guard at the banquet, so 
that the machines might sail by 
without stopping, simply holding 
Sabrina to the view of the ban- 
queters from the tonneau. If there 
was no danger from the odd class- 
men, the machines were to stop 

137 



and Sabrina was to be taken into 
the doorway of the banquet room 
and a flashlight taken of the scene. 
Everything worked as planned. The 
7.30 call was made from a small 
house in Hadley, and Fink reported 
everything quiet. The machines 
then came into Amherst by North- 
ampton Road, and the East Hadley 
Road, and making a long detour 
around " D. K. E." Hill, arrived at 
the hat factory about 8.20. Shoop 
telephoned Fink while the lights 
were being lighted on the machines 
and everything made ready for the 
final dash. At 8.25 Fink reported 
everything quiet at the banquet, 
though '99 was having its dinner 
on the lawn just across the Common 
at Davis' Corner. It was decided 
to make a dash for it immediately. 
Quickly the machines sped up the 
oval by Walker Hall and down 

138 



by Hitchcock Hall. Everything was 
quiet and the machines stopped 
long enough for Sabrina to be taken 
up to the door, and amid tremendous 
cheering a flashlight was taken of 
her, silhouetted in the doorway. 
She was there but an instant, and 
then strong arms put Sabrina back 
into a machine, and with '94 men 
running wildly across the Common 
and shouting triumphandy at '99, 
as they banqueted totally ignorant 
of what was being done under their 
very noses, the two machines went 
at full speed down South Pleasant 
Street and around by Blake Field 
and out on Northampton Road 
again. Clark and Bedford had 
been doing good work on their 
motor cycles, and found that the 
odd classmen had blockaded the 
Northampton Road in front of Chi 
Psi with ropes and spiked planks. 
139 



The machines had hardly left the 
'94 banquet when several ' I 1 men 
came running up with spiked planks 
to lay in front of the autos, but they 
were just a minute too late. The 
machines were by this time speeding 
fifty miles an hour down Northamp- 
ton Road with Sabrina safely in 
keeping. 




140 



CComing into Amherst, at the 
B. & M. underpass on Northampton 
Road, the fellows with Sabrina had 
noticed four machines apparently 
broken down at that one place, and 
in one of these machines were a 
couple of odd classmen. It looked 
a little suspicious that four machines 
should be broken down at the same 
time and so close together. But 
little was thought of it until, as they 
were flying from Amherst, their ma- 
chines neared the underpass. The 
startled men saw a great light just 
over a small rise in front of them. 
The thought immediately flashed 
into their minds that they had been 
trapped and that the odd classmen 
had blocked the underpass and built 
big bon-fires all around it. In the 
excitement, one of the men looked 
back and mistook a couple of arc- 
lights for a machine following them. 
141 



The last crossroad had been passed, 
so there was nothing to do but 
take a chance and go ahead. The 
glare was so bright that little could 
be distinguished until within less 
than a quarter of a mile of the under- 
pass, when a light separated itself 
from the general glare and ap- 
proached in the form of a machine. 
The men guarding Sabrina grasped 
their clubs, prepared for a general 
onslaught, — but the approaching 
machine passed quietly. It was one 
of those that had been broken down. 
In quick succession the three other 
autos passed in the same way, and 
the big glare which had frightened 
the men was no more. It was indeed 
a remarkable coincidence that those 
four machines which had been 
broken down at that place should 
have all started up at just the time 
when the two machines with Sa- 

142 



brina were returning. The men in 
the machines heaved a great sigh of 
relief as they shot unmolested through 
the underpass. They proceeded on, 
turned off at the River Road, and 
left Sabrina that night in Holyoke, 
in the cellar of the jew^elry store 
on High Street. 

At Amherst, meanw^hile, ** the 
news spread like wildfire, and the 
many odd classmen, graduate and 
undergraduate, began to plan with 
profound thought how they would 
capture the Goddess. By midnight 
they were riding wildly in automo- 
biles throughout the surrounding 
country, trying to find Sabrina, but 
they found not even a trace of her." 
And once more, the even classmen, 
cleverly outwitting the men of the 
odd classes, had brought Sabrina 
before their very eyes and escaped 
with her untouched. 

143 



12 Sabrina remained in Holyoke in 

^ ' perfect safety until the Sophomore 

banquet of the class of 1912 was held 
at the Hotel Astor in New York 
City on March 4th, 1910. Shoop, 
'10, expressed Sabrina to New 
York City, and left her for the night 
and day preceding the banquet 
in a bank on Fifth Avenue. On 
the night of March 4th, Cornell, 
Henry, Seligman and Shoop, '10, 
secured the services of a cartman and 
a private detective, and took Sabrina 
about eight o'clock in the evening 
from the bank, down into Broadway, 
thronged at that time with the usual 
theatre crowd. Little did that pleas- 
ure-seeking people imagine the ex- 
citement in the breasts of those 
four Sabrina men as they eagerly 
peered from the covered van and 
watched for signs of any odd class- 
men, as they neared the Astor 

144 



A 



Hotel. She was quickly taken in 
the box to the Roof Garden of the 
Astor and unpacked in a room ad- 
joining the banquet hall. The four 
men, above mentioned, then carried 
her in before the eyes of the Sabrina 
men there assembled. Amid cheer- 
ing and singing of " All hail, Sabrina 
dear!" she was given a place of 
honor before the speakers' table, and 
one by one the men filed by, each 
giving her a fond caress, after which 
Shoop, the '10 guardian, officially 
turned her over to the class of 
1912. Sabrina was then taken 
from the room followed by all the 
'10 men present, who with joined 
hands continued singing and danc- 
ing around her as she was being 
packed in the box, and just before 
the last board was screwed down 
they each gave her a farewell kiss. It 
might be a long time before they 
145 



would again see Sabrina, who had 
grown to mean so much to them 
during their four years in college. 
They did not stop singing until 
Sabrina disappeared in the elevator. 
She was soon placed in the express 
wagon and taken back to the bank. 

There had been no disturbance 
whatever by the odd classmen 
and the following Monday, Sabrina 
was quietly shipped by the 1912 
guardian by a series of intermediate 
steps to a small fishing town on the 
Maine Coast. There she is resting 
peacefully as this book goes to press, 
but at just this time she is also about 
to be wafted away to unknown 
regions of this big, big country, 
far from the profane touch of in- 
quisitive odd classmen. All Sa- 
brina men bid her Godspeed. 

146 



CTruly a unique custom is this of 
Sabrina. Has it a deeper signifi- 
cance than the mere college prank? 
Even the most casual observer can- 
not help seeing how participation 
in such episodes during one's college 
course is going to lighten the tedium 
of the classroom and impress mem- 
ories of happy college days and 
friendship upon the mind of the 
Amherst man, memories which will 
never forsake him and which will 
increase in value and sentiment 
as age advances. But this custom 
has even a more practical result 
than creating food for memories. 
It calls the men of the Sabrina 
classes closer together, impelled 
by a common interest. It draws 
the members of the individual class 
into a keener spirit of Class Loyalty, 
and Class Loyalty and Class Spirit 
make better College Loyalty and 
147 



College Spirit. And herein lies the 
chief justification of this class 
custom. 

At every alumni dinner, where 
a Sabrina class is present, you will 
find a greater percentage of their 
men in attendance, and Sabrina is 
still the Goddess who draws them 
together. Instance the following re- 
port in the New York Tribune of the 
New York Alumni banquet held in 
1908: 

" There is apparently something in 
the atmosphere of old Amherst that 
gives the vocal organs a greater 
power than is attained on any other 
hill, and the alumni just used this 
power to the limit. ... Of course 
there were honors also for others, 
and of these latter ' Sabrina,' the 
Goddess of the even classes, easily 
led. ... * Sabrina,' as she ap- 
pears at these affairs, is only a 

148 



replica of her true self, however. 
The original, which the '08 class 
has turned over to the '10 class, is 
hidden away somewhere, the odd 
men have not seen it in several 
years. When her * worship's ' 
counterfeit was brought on last night 
there was a storm of applause from 
the evens and a chorus of hisses from 
the odds. The huskies who car- 
ried the green lady placed her 
tenderly on the table around which 
were gathered the class of '94, 
for they were the miscreants who 
rescued * Sabrina.' ... In the 
course of the dinner ... all the 
lights were extinguished and in the 
centre of the room, where the men 
of '94 sat, there flared up red fire, 
whose effect was heightened by a 
dozen sparkles that emitted stars of 
fire, and * Sabrina ' stood, or rather 
reclined, in relief — in bold relief some 

149 



would say — as the evens sang ' All 
hail, Sabrina dear/ " 

Furthermore Sabrina has a live 
influence among those who have 
left the undergraduate days and 
gone out into the world. In the 
last six years, that is, since the estab- 
lishment of the Reunion Trophy 
Cup, three Sabrina classes have won 
the Trophy with the greatest per- 
centage of their class back at Com- 
mencement, while but once have 
the non-Sabrina men won the cup. 
Last Commencement, '94, the class 
which, as the reader will remember, 
stole Sabrina from the class of '93, 
had 85.33% of their class back for 
their fifteenth reunion. This is the 
record for Amherst, and is the great- 
est percentage for any class reunion 
of any college concerning which 
statistics can be found. 

Such considerations show that 
Sabrina is a live deity with the 

150 



alumni long after they have left these 
classic halls of old Amherst. Their 
love and enthusiasm still cling to her, 
and I close this little history of her 
life with the words of a '96 alumnus: 
*' To think of such a Goddess, 
remembering the charming legends 
related about her, is a pleasure 
enjoyed by all who know Amherst 
traditions. But to have seen the 
Queenly Sabrina, even to have had 
a glimpse of her beautiful form, has 
been the privilege of but few. To 
caress the cheek of a real Goddess, 
actually to sit in the lap of Sabrina 
and pledge her your allegiance 
before the admiring fellows, is an 
unique experience. And through 
cunning, wisdom and loyalty may 
the delight be reserved for many, 
many years to the Even Classes of 
Old Amherst." 




SABRINA SONG 

We may sing of our glorious college, 

Of the old chapel steps and the bell, 

Of the class-rooms just filled full of knowledge. 

Which all Amherst men love so well. 

But to-night as we're gather'd together. 
Let us raise a strain loudly and strong 
To her from whom naught can us sever, 
To her who keeps watch o'er our throng. 

Sabrina, fair, Sabrina, dear. 
We raise to thee our hearty cheer, 
Come fellows, all, and give a toast 
To her we love, and love the most. 



SABRINA BANQUETS 

Class of '90 held a banquet at New London.Conn., 

June, 1888. NoSabrina 
Class of '9 1 held a banquet at Watch Hill, R. I., 

June, 1889. Sabrina 
Class of '93 held a banquet at Springfield, Mass., 

Feb., 1890. Sabrina 
Class of '93 held a banquet at Boston, Mass., 

June 19,1891. Sabrina 
Class of '94 held a banquet at Brattleboro, Vt., 

June, 1892. Sabrina 
Class of '96 held a banquet at Greenfield, Mass., 

Feb., 1893. NoSabrina 
Class of '96 held a banquet at Nassau, N. H., 

Jan. 12, 1894. Sabrina 
Class of '98 held a banquet at Bennington, Vt., 

Nov. 14, 1895. Sabrina 
Class of '00 held a banquet at New London,Conn., 

Nov. 1,1897. Sabrina 
Class of '02 held a banquet at Springfield, Mass., 

June 1899. Sabrina 
Class of '04 held a banquet at New London.Conn., 

May 4, 1902. Sabrina 
Class of '06 held a banquet at New York City, 

May 9, 1904. Sabrina 
Class of '08 held a banquet at New York City, 

Mar. 19, 1906. Sabrina 
Class of ' 1 held a banquet at New York City, 

Mar. 4, 1908. Sabrina 
Class of ' 1 2 held a banquet at New York City, 

Mar. 5, 1910. Sabrina 



SABRINA GUARDIANS. 



CLASS. 

I89U. Arthur B. Ingalls (by right of 
conquest). 

1891. Charles Wells. 

1 893. E. R. Houghton and James Breed. 

1894. Harlan F. Stone. 
1896. Charles J. Staples. 
1898. Samuel B. Furbish. 
1900. Everett E. Green. 
1902. Robert J. Cleeland. 
1904. Joseph B. Eastman. 
1906. Ralph W. Wheeler. 
1908. Fayette F. Read. 
1910. Max Shoop. 



JUN 171910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



jUH U l»tt 



